Just Dance
by SleeplessStoryteller
Summary: AU. Naruto Uzumaki is a 16 year old street dancer. Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of a wealthy business man. What happens when they meet? Naruto gets a stalker and some near death experiences, while Hinata gets a couple close calls of her own.
1. A Little Bit Of The Past

**Author's Notes: Aright this work of fiction is copy write by me. Any characters made up by me are owned by me and the others are owned by their respective peoples. I got this idea from Silent-Shanin on DeviantART, this is also an art trade, plus here are the links to her Naruto drawings. (For people on DA) You guys should check them out they are totally epic! Also it's AU so I might not be able to use all of the characters from Naruto. He does get a creepy stalker though! XD Merry Christmas (a bit late though) guys! Shanin finally finished the art trade for you! :D I was just reading this over again, and I just noticed that some of it doesn't fit into Chapter 5 or the story line I have right now...so I have to edit it...D: Sadness! But QueenyLeAcH edited this for me so it's better than last time!**

**P.S I did need a beta but now I have one :D QueenyLeAcH, and she's absolutely AMAZING.**  
><strong>Alright then,<strong>  
><strong>Hope you like the first chapter of Just Dance!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter One, In Which Someone Trips<br>And Two People Point And Laugh. (Or, A Little Bit Of The Past)**

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><p><em>Alright, I got this. One hand on the ground, lift up, right foot to the sky...SHOOT, GRAB IT! Yes…alright now hold…One…Two…Three…Four...Drop, SLIDE! One, two, third beat…nod!<em> Bobbing his head to the imaginary beat Naruto Uzumaki, sixteen year old street break dancer, finished his last move.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as a brown haired lady, who happened to be walking past, dropped a couple of coins into the hood of his old orange jacket. _I wonder, did she give me enough to get some new stuff?_

Checking to see that no one from any of the gangs was around, he stood up and walked as though he didn't desperately need some food or new clothes. He grabbed the hoodie and tipped the coins into his palm before counting them out slowly and pulling the jacket on over his black shirt.

_I've got enough!_ Naruto felt like jumping up and punching the air but he refrained himself…If he didn't…His clothes might rip more than they already were, and it was hard enough trying to dance in these clothes without accidentally flashing anyone all ready. _I've got enough to buy some new threads, new shoes AND some ramen! Mmm…I can already taste it…_He put the coins in to his jacket pocket and sauntered off to the nearest, cheapest clothes shop he knew of.

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><p>Naruto Uzumaki, raised by the streets and its code of honor, was medium, not tall, not short, just somewhere in the middle, and really thin, right in the middle of being fit and starving half to death. The boy was white skinned and dressed, to stay slightly in or out of the spotlight, with a black tee, an orange hoodie with one pocket that ran straight over his stomach, loose blue jeans with rips all through them that weren't caused on purpose, blue sneakers and black fingerless, slightly longer then his wrist, gloves. His face was the most remarkable thing about him, his eyes being a color-changing blue and his spiky hair being a bright blonde, almost yellow, color. As well for some strange reason he had three scars on either side of his face that resembled cat whiskers and his canine teeth were pointier than normal.<p>

Currently, those canines were shown in Naruto's soft, slightly nervous, smile as he stood outside the clothes shop. He remembered the last time he had been in here - it wasn't one of the fondest memories of his life, seeing as he had been almost arrested. If it hadn't been for that stupid, strange, eye-patched, white haired guy he probably would have ended up in a jail cell and…

_ENOUGH!_ he thought to himself. _Clothes NOT memories!_ A little bell chimed above Naruto's head as he pushed open the door. Making his way to the back where he had spotted some jackets in his favorite color, orange, he paused long enough to scoop the place out in case he had to run again. There was a back entryway that led to an alley which he discovered by accident while trying to find some place warm to sleep; the front door, which he had just come through, though that was easily blocked; a couple of air ducts if he was desperate; and lots and LOTS of clothes on movable racks, tables, and shelves that he could hide in or behind.

Resuming his walk, he looked out for the dude from last week, even if he had money, that guy might try to make it difficult for him to buy stuff. It wasn't even HIM who took the clothes last time - it was…uh…what's his face…some dude with spiky white hair and glasses (Another one! You'd think they all had death wishes or something). Which was strange, (the white hair, not the glasses) you usually didn't do stuff like that unless you were crazy, had gang immunity, or you were Naruto; and seeing as HE was Naruto, the white haired guy couldn't be him so, A) he was either crazy or, B) he was running with a strong gang.  
>Probably the latter as he didn't seem crazy and he stole things…And BLAMED completely innocent people like him! Naruto felt like slapping himself again; he was getting completely sidetracked form his shopping "mission". The coins he'd earned from the months of dancing chinked around in his pockets and he stopped scoping the place out to scope out the clothes he could wear. He decided to buy some shoes first, then go for gloves, new jeans and so forth until he got everything that he needed.<p>

The shoe isle was a bit to the right of where he was so, moving carefully, he navigated his way around the racks and shelves to where he needed to go. There were some nice, red sneakers he had seen last year and he noticed them on the shelf above his head so he stood on his toes and stretched his arm up 'till he reached it. Wobbling a bit, unbalanced, he quickly grabbed the shoes and was down on his feet before he could fall over. Luckily, he managed to grab the right pair and he sat down to try them on, watching carefully in case any guards came to kick him out.

Lady Luck apparently liked him today because the shoes fit well, with a bit of space so he could grow. Naruto sped over to the jacket section in record time and found all the stuff he came in for, minus socks. It was strange, there were absolutely no socks anywhere in the store and seeing as if he wanted to find some he had to talk to a clerk, he decided that socks were useless and ramen tasted better anyway. With all his new clothes on he made his way to the counter; they might let him go out wearing them, if he was lucky.

Luck. Not something you usually relied on when you lived like he did, but then again, he never was "usual." Everyone thought he was a demon and he didn't bother correcting them after he realized that everyone but gang leaders would leave him alone. He knew why they called him a demon, but he didn't know why they blamed his hair, or his face and why they blamed those aspects of his profile but they left him alone and he wasn't made to "participate" in any gang fights that would go on. Which was good, earning money for food was hard enough without hospital bills and a bullet in his leg.

The clerk at the counter was free to help him so Naruto went up and rang the silver bell. It made a pleasant chiming sound and the clerk turned around to face his next customer. The name tag on the front of the boy's shirt read "Kurai" and he froze when he saw Naruto's hair colour. He stared in amazement and fear.

Naruto, slightly used to this treatment when it came to superstitious gangs or their members, just waited patiently for the guy to realise that he wanted to buy something. Kurai was still frozen two minutes later and Naruto was getting annoyed, so he coughed to attract the clerk's attention to the fact he was holding all of his clothes and his shoes in his hands. The brown haired guy finally snapped out of his trance and took Naruto's stuff off of him hesitantly, still obviously terrified of being so close to the supposed "demon."

When he spoke there was a stutter that was clearly from fear and not just a speaking disability. "Wh-what would you like...sir!" The last bit was added on as a quick and scared afterthought.

Naruto questioned in his normal voice, unavoidably terrifying the clerk with his sharp canines. "Can I please buy these clothes, the ones that I'm wearing?"

The clerk replied quickly, eager to get Naruto away from him, "Yes, yes of co-course!"

Naruto nodded and Kurai scanned the price tags on what Naruto was wearing. He reached down to take Naruto's old clothes off him but Naruto took them away from his grasping fingers. Kurai's hands fluttered away like a spooked horse before he regained his courage and spoke again. "I can take those off you if you want," when Naruto looked unconvinced he added, "I'll pay for them."

Naruto's common sense overran the fact that his head was shouting at him that this was a very bad idea, and he gave the clerk his old threads and some of his dancing money, while in return the spiky haired fourteen year old handed over some cash for his old clothes.

"Thank you for your assistance," Naruto said, not caring that the guy wouldn't answer him.

Surprisingly though, the boy did answer with, "Um, excuse me? Are you…really a demon?"

An evil smirk grew on Naruto's lips as he said, "Whoever said I wasn't?"

The boy twitched as Naruto left the clothes shop. He had started counting out all of the change he had left when suddenly two men pushed him down. Surprised and still unused to his new shoes, Naruto slipped and fell, the rest of his money going down a nearby sewer drain. "NO!" he shouted, scrabbling for the coins. The two men that pushed him started laughing cruelly and he felt a swift kick to his ribs. "Ugghh…" the breath whooshed out of his chest as he closed his eyes and groaned in pain.

"STOP IT!" Naruto heard a young lady's voice shout through his closed eyes. "C-can't you see you're hurting him?" The two men backed off quickly with quiet "sorry" and "yes, miss." The beautiful white dressed lady bent down to help Naruto to his feet. "Ar-are you alright? I'm very s-sorry for my guards' behavior," at that bit she sent a glare towards the men who backed away carefully, "t-they can be very bothersome at times." Her voice held a shy stutter.

Naruto was about to answer when his stomach growled angrily at its owner. He laughed awkwardly and tried to stop the large noise from broadcasting from how hungry it was. The girl just looked at him curiously. "Heh heh, I'm fine! Believe it!"

"W-what?"

"Uhh, well I just..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously again.

"W-would you like something to eat?" she asked kindly, "it's the least I can do for you."

"No, I'm not hungry at all!" Naruto's stomach growled again disregarding his pride and his statement.

The girl laughed and smiled, challenging. "N-not hungry at all huh?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and admitted, "Well maybe a bit…But I don't need your food!"

"I-I never said you had to take it." Teasing sarcasm was heavy in her words.

Naruto crossed his arms, annoyed at her as he said, "I don't need anything from the likes of you."

"I h-have a like?"

"Yeah, you do!"

"Oh…r-really. And what am I 'like'?"

"You're one of those rich people who think they can get whatever they want if they flash their money around!"

To Naruto's surprise the lavender eyed girl laughed aloud. She stuck out her hand for him to shake and asked him, "What is your name?"

Naruto just looked at her hand before realizing that she wanted him to shake it. His own hand reached out of its own accord as he replied with confidence, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the best break dancer ever! Believe it!"

"W-well, Naruto Uzumaki, my name is–"

Suddenly the girl's guards advanced and one of them shouted, "Back off, punk! Don't you dare hurt Miss Hyuga!" He brandished his weapon threateningly and Naruto bolted away.

The girl called out to Naruto and stretched her arm in his direction as if to catch his fleeting form, "Wait! Please!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at her and grinned cheekily, raising his hand to wave at her. "See you later, Miss Hyuga!"

The girl's guards flanked her as Naruto's form disappeared around a corner, the shorter one spoke to the other as though Miss Hyuga couldn't hear them. "Her father won't be happy about that you know."

The other replied with, "Everyone knows she's already set up with someone else…"

The guards switched their attention back to the dark haired girl observing them. "We'd better get you back to your father, Miss Hyuga." The three started walking again. The lavender eyed girl looked back with longing to where she saw Naruto last. "Naruto Uzumaki…," She whispered to herself, hoping to see the proud blue eyed blonde again.


	2. Freedom

***WARNING:* This Chapter is why I rated it T. There are some mentions in it that aren't for younger types. Only a minimal amount of swearing (I don't swear and it shows up in my writing.) and the mentions are for stalkers and about "Kakashi's Little Orange Book." EDITED BY QUEENYLEACH**

**Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Got this out quick for you! Just a brief on how I write my chapters: I write (for example) chapter 3 and then I finish chapter 4 and post chapter 3 while I write chapter 5. Also I try to edit everything so if you see any mistakes can you tell me so I can fix them? It would be massively appreciated! I just checked my emails to and I was so surprised to see so many people added this story to their alerts page! I didn't even think that anyone would like this story so much that they would add it to their alerts! It made my day (and the one after that and the one after that ^~^) having so many people like this story is making me blush! -~- I got 16 emails from telling me about reviews and alerts! These author's notes are really long aren't they? Chapter 3 is going to be one of my faves, I can tell.**

**For this chapter: I've been reading to much of RuneWitchSakura's fanfiction...Everyone blame my slight fever for this junk! *crys in the sadness corner* For some strange wierd reason, in Word this was 1,799 words or something but on the fanfiction upload it was 2,150 words!**

**To My Reviewers:**  
><strong>Technoninjalover – Thank you so much!<strong>  
><strong>Shanin Hyuga – Yep I'm making chapter two, this is it!<strong>  
><strong>EpicReader – *blushes* Thanks! The idea was inspired by one of my friend's pictures, if you want to see them the links are on my profile…Of course I'll continue! Especially with as many reviewers as I've been getting on this story!<strong>  
><strong>Himekassy-chan – *Blushes even harder* Thank you so much! I'll update fast just for my reviwers!<strong>  
><strong>Magykalheart – You think so? I wasn't really happy with it because it had a bit too much explaining…<strong>  
><strong>Cyrinepaula – Posted this as soon as I could!<strong>

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Two, When Something Special<span>**  
><strong><span>Is Found And Something Else Is Lost. (Or "Freedom") <span>**

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><p>"What are we meant to do now?"<p>

"What?"

"Well, don't we have to give a report to Master Hyuga about what the young lady did?"

"Oh yeah…We're screwed!"

"You think?" The shorter, guard of Hinata's fidgeted in worry as the three walked up the long winding road to the house in front.

"Do you think that her father won't get mad?"

"Are you kidding me? We let her talk to street trash. Her father is going to have us gutted!"

"You're exaggerating, right?"

"No way, we are so dead!"

"My father will not kill you," Hinata finally spoke up, easing their fears for a second until she continued. "He might just severely injure you. That's all."

"Naaaaa!" One of them moaned and both guards winced as the taller of them reached out to open the large double doors leading into the Hyuga home. They had arrived.

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><p>"I hear that you were talking again."<p>

"Yes, Father, I was." No sense in wasting her breath. Her father would never listen to her anyways.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Her father's voice was curt and slightly cruel.

"I'm sorry for talking, Father." A bit of sarcasm was hidden in there but it didn't matter. A scathing glare was all Hinata received in response. "If there is nothing else, Father…?" She made a careful move to the door of her father's study.

"No. There is something else."

"Yes. Father?"

"My nephew, your cousin Neji, has recently come here to my custody."

"Custody, Father?"

"Yes, Hinata," her father was irritated. "Neji's parents were recently…killed. He is coming to live with us because of that."

"Oh."

Her father beckoned to someone beyond Hinata's range of vision and a boy who looked around her age, sixteen, entered the space. He had long brown hair that was tied back in low ponytail and the clear Hyuga eyes. "Hinata, this is your cousin Neji. Please show him to his new rooms."

"Yes, Father." Hinata began to usher Neji out of her father's office and she was almost through the door when her father's voice stopped her.

"Hinata, I have arranged an engagement for you to a wealthy family. You are to stay on the grounds for the next two months until the marriage. Am I understood?"

There was silence and Hinata turned to face the door so her father could not see her face. When she spoke her voice was muffled but she could still be understood. "I…understand, Father." _I understand that you hate me! I understand that you want me to be miserable for the rest of my life!_

"You can go now, Hinata." Her father was quiet, already immersed in paperwork and legal matters.

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><p>Hinata was lying in her room staring at the ceiling with a look of undulated fury, thinking about what her father had said. Too irritated and furious to hold still for long, Hinata swung off her bed and changed into more comfortable clothes. Although long, white, princess style dresses looked good, they were hot and hard to move around in.<p>

A gray hoodie with darker sleeves slid on over a black buttoned dance shirt and loose, comfy cargo pants were covering her legs. Pulling up the hood on her jacket and walking to a mirror Hinata was surprised at how different she looked. _I could probably go out on the streets in this and no-one would ever guess I was the daughter and heir of the Hyuga fortune…!_

Suddenly Hinata was struck by an idea. _What if I did go out in this stuff? I could spend my last months of freedom actually free for a change! But… could I pull it off? I mean…would I even be able to make sure no-one noticed? NO! I CAN do this. I'm NOT going to be locked up for the last eight weeks of freedom that I have! I'm going out there…and maybe…if I'm lucky…I can see Naruto-kun again…With that hopeful thought in mind Hinata climbed out the window, catching one last glimpse of her bedroom before she was out and away to explore the city by herself. _

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><p>Naruto's stomach growled hungrily as he walked along to his "house." Really, it was more like an abandoned husk of a place, but to Naruto it was somewhere slightly dry and comfortable. Naruto placed a hand around his stomach to hold back hunger pangs. <em>Maybe I should have taken some of Miss Hyuga's food…I wouldn't be so hungry then!<em>

Lamenting, Naruto sighed then turned his thoughts away from his hunger and food onto a more pleasing topic: Miss Hyuga. She was really, well, to tell the truth, amazing! Even when Naruto insulted her, she laughed, and she stood up for him even though those guys were like, three TIMES bigger than both of them! _She has a really nice laugh_, Naruto decided, thinking about the dark haired beauty.

"PAH! Yuck!" Naruto spat out a piece of dirty paper that had flown into his face, and by extension, his partially open mouth, grabbing it, and getting ready to crumple it up to throw away. He stopped though, it wasn't just a piece of paper, it was a poster. A contest poster for…what exactly? The ink was blurred and smudged but Naruto made out a couple of words. "HOLY SH-!" Naruto had spotted the reward money for the contest; one thousand dollars. "With that much I could get an EVERLASTING supply of ramen!" Gleefully Naruto tried to make out the rest of the words, letting it occupy his short attention span for longer than usual.

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><p>"Kakashi Hatake, what a very unpleasant surprise to find the copy cat here."<p>

"Likewise, Zabuza. Still as boring as ever I see."

A growl burst from the man, Zabuza's, throat before he leapt at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged to the side still chatting in an annoying fashion. "So what are you doing now? Hired to be a pedophile this time? And why are you _STILL_ not wearing a shirt?"

Zabuza was frozen for a second his gaping mouth resembling a fish before he snapped out of it.  
>"I am no such thing! I'm…protecting the boy," he stated before resuming his attack. "And shirts suck!"<p>

"Because that's _soo_ believable," Kakashi said sarcastically, dodging again and landing a punch of his own. His spiky white hair flopped into his face and he blew it away quickly. "Shirts suck? Really?"

"Well what are you doing then?" Zabuza grunted through his pain as he swung his foot up aiming for Kakashi's face. "Yes, _really_!" On Zabuza's back a large sword swung around and almost sliced Kakashi.

"I'm protecting him, and, unlike you, I'm not getting paid to STALK him." Kakashi doged underneath the blow. The large sword barely grazed his cheek, but cut a thin line in the fabric that covered almost his entire face. "Man, your comebacks stink!"

"So you're a gay pervert?"

Now it was Kakashi's turn to look shell shocked, but he snapped out of it quickly, remembering where he was, and, who was attacking him.

"I-I'm not a gay pervert!" Kakashi said, blushing heavily.

"Are you trying to convince yourself, or me?" Zabuza replied, taking joy in tormenting Kakashi. "My comebacks do not stink!" The white bandage around his face moved slightly as Zabuza panted heavily, Kakashi was wearing him down slowly but surely.

"YOU! I'm not a pervert!"

"You carry around a little orange book with pictures of naked girls in it. If you're not a pervert, who is?" Zabuza danced around Kakashi's hastily thrown attacks and tried to land a few of his own. Kakashi dodged them all and tried to grab Zabuza's sword but Zabuza darted to the left and threw a kick into Kakashi's stomach.

"Well…At least I'm not a stalker!"

"You sound like a broken record!"

"So do you!" Kakashi jumped up onto a large green garbage bin by the alley wall and flipped off before Zabuza could trip him off. "And I'm not gay! "I never said you were; you just jumped to the conclusion."

"No I didn't!"

"Everyone knows you're a pervert anyway so why so defensive?"

"I'm not GAY!" And then after, "I just never said I wasn't a pervert..."

"So you're bisexual?"

"NO!"

"Uh-huh, you just keep telling the world that, while in your mind you kiss other gay or bi guys."  
>Kakashi looked horrified then his expression switched to one of anger and he growled at the demon of the mist before launching himself off of the alley wall and hitting Zabuza in the temple with his fist, effectively knocking him out. Unable to resist the urge to have the last word he taunted, "Your comebacks stink so bad I can smell them!"<p>

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><p>Breathing heavily from the fight Kakashi dusted off his hands looking down at Zabuza's unconscious body, he snorted. "That was WAYYY easier than I expected…" Looking around Kakashi suddenly looked confused and slightly panicked. "Where did Naruto go? Protecting someone means I actually need someone to protect!" He yelped and ran off to find his charge. At the end of the alley though, Kakashi paused as a thought struck him. "What am I meant to do with Zabuza? I can't just leave him here…Right?" Kakashi then smirked evilly as another idea struck him and ran off to fetch something.<p>

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><p>When Zabuza woke up two hours later Kakashi was long gone and Naruto's trail was cold. That wasn't his biggest problem though as his opponent had tied him up and strung him above the ground! Noticing this he started struggling wildly then stopped as the rope holding him tightened around his stomach and he got less air to his lungs. "Great," he muttered to himself, "What the hell am I meant to do now? Oh wait…HARU!" He called out to the sky, fully expecting no-one to hear him but Haru, his tool. Imagine his surprise when he heard a little voice say,<p>

"Mommy, why is there a stupid looking man hanging from the telephone pole?"

"Hey! I'm not stupid, stupid!"

"Just ignore him darling, I'm sure he's another insane street man."

Fuming silently Zabuza hung from his telephone pole waiting for Haru to come save him.  
>"Kakashi is going to pay for this! No-one ties me to a pole and insults my come-backs!" He said under his breath angrily.<p> 


	3. Life And Death Situations

**Author's Notes: Hey guys! Guess what I did yesterday? I started writing the last and second to last chapters, so now I have the first chapter, the second chapter, the third chapter, a quarter of both of the last chapters and NONE of the middle. XD I'm so dumb…But the idea was just so good I had to use it! Except now making the middle is going to be even harder…*sighs* Oh well! I need a song for the last chapter (and some of the other chapters) and I'm thinking "Hangover" but I REALLY need a better one. if you guys can send me one I would love that! It needs to be bouncy and easy to dance too, and I have to be able to fit some break dancing moves in it. If it has words it'll be easier to write but please, no really big swear words? ****If I chose your song for the last chapter then I'll write you a one-shot, if you want me to, and you can tell me what you want me to write.**

**I love angst as well (one of the only things I can write, along with grim humor) so although I will put humor there will be angst! I'll make sure to make it as funny as I can, (this _is_ filed under 'humor') but because you can't make a good story without something going wrong, angst will appear! 3 Angst...If you think my style changes to much between these two chapters, do remember that I am a 13 year old and am actually influenced _a lot_ by what I read, which, at the time I was writing the ending for chapter 2, was RuneWitchSakura's fanfiction, but if you want to read more of that random brand of humor, you should go check her out. She's amazing!**  
><strong>But apperently moving all her stories to a blog thing-y. I think that when she finishes a story on the blog she'll put it one FF.N but if you only like reading finished stories then you might not want to read it...(sorry, I ramble...) Any way, I'd been watching High School Of The Dead (it's HORRIFIC) and my friend convinced me...this is chapter is what came about because of that...Anyway, here's chapter three for your amusement! P.S I've written up to chapter 6 and if you guys review fast I'll give you a two chapter update! Pretty please!<strong>

**For This Chapter: Minor swearing: not nearly as many _mentions_ as in the last chapter (I said I was sorry for that junk!) And a bit more then a little violence and blood. Slight Angst!**

**For My Reviewers:  
>Animedabest - THANK YOU! I'll type really fast and post them up just for you guys!<br>Himekassy-chan - You really liked it? *blushes with embaressment* Opps~! I thought it wasn't that...my knowledge of japenese is fairly limited, but as soon as my new/old (I've had some editing done by her before) beta finishes the editing for the first chapters, I'll correct it and re-post. Thanks for pointing it out! It's my holidays so I'll probably (if I don't get interupted by family or writers block) finish a chapter every two days...Give or take...  
>Technoninjalover - He makes another appearence later so I'll have even <em>more <em>torture in store! (Zabuza: *shivers* Someone wants to torture me...O.O)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three, The First Of The Near Death Experiences<br>(Or, "Life And Death Situations.")**

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><p>Kakashi leapt from rooftop to rooftop thinking about his revenge on Zabuza. You don't insult the copy cat and get away with it! He chuckled under his breath as he thought about the surprise Zabuza would have when he looked in a mirror, if only Kakashi could be there to see it! That would be amusing to watch…<br>Changing direction slightly to head for Naruto's second usual hang-out Kakashi's good mood ebbed slightly and a frown replaced his smile. Naruto was still missing from Kakashi's sight and he was starting to get worried; it had been almost two hours since his fight with Zabuza and Naruto was still missing! Who _knows_ how much trouble he could be in? Last time he was left alone (for two MINUTES, goddammit!) Naruto had been accused of stealing something and he almost got freaking arrested! All Kakashi had done was take out his newest book and Naruto had gone poof! Now it was even harder to find him, especially since he was older and could be anywhere!

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><p>Naruto meandered along the roads to his crib, reading his newest find in the fading evening light. He'd hoped to have a quick nap before the gang meeting tonight but he didn't have anything to do tomorrow so if he slept in late it didn't matter, except for the fact that by the time he woke up everyone else would be up and it'd be harder to find someplace to dance. He could always practice but the last time he practiced hard while this hungry he collapsed and got most of his stuff (including his shirt!) stolen off his back. He didn't have a jumper back then either, so he had to ransack the curtains in his home to make a shirt and everyone had laughed for days. NOT funny.<p>

Tucking the piece of paper in his pants pocket Naruto sighed. He couldn't read anymore tonight especially if he wanted to get to the meeting on time. Maybe Sakura would be there early and he could talk to her! That would be epic! His daydream grew less realistic as he pretended that Sakura had fainted and he was about to rescue her from evil ninja. Suddenly, a shrill, panicked scream burst through the darkening day before it was cut off. Quickly, Naruto began to run in the direction of the scream urging himself to get to the scene before something bad happened.

Turning left to a dingy looking alley Naruto plunged in blindly landing a punch to some guy's face. Another man was trying to one-handedly unbutton the top of a girl's shirt while covering her mouth with his dirty hand. The girl was trying to swat his hands away but failing, her eyes full of panic. Naruto kicked the pervert in the stomach remembering how much it would hurt. Spinning around he stood in front of the dark-haired girl they were attacking, falling into what he hoped was a threatening position. The three men in front of him smelt badly of alcohol and one of them was nursing a sore eye while the other was bent over slightly trying to catch his breath. The man bending over held a knife and the other one that Naruto hadn't hurt yet also had one. The knives caught the sunset light and gleamed sharply. The girl quivered behind him as one of the men began to speak, his voice slurred from drinking.

"What do you think you're doing you stupid boy?"

"One, I'm not stupid. Two, you're so badly drunk I could beat you with one hand behind my back. Three, What the hell do you think _you're_ doing?"

"Just having a little fun!" The uninjured man grinned wildly causing the girl behind Naruto to whimper.

"Well she doesn't look like she's having very much fun does she boys?"

"It's just an act for us."

Out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw one of the men try to maneuver behind him to grab the girl. He answered smoothly his mind racing a mile a minute to figure out a way to make the drunken idiots drop their knives and go away. Suddenly he struck mental gold.

"You know now that I think about it I've never seen you in the demon's territory." There, now no matter how drunk they were that had to have some fear–! Or not...

"Demon's territory? You think you can scare us with fairy tales?" A brittle donkey's laugh burst from the man Naruto had punched in the face.

"They're not fairy tales. I've met the demon. He has eyes that flash from blue to red and there are three scars on his cheeks." The man moving on the right paused while the other kept talking to Naruto.

"Like yours?"

"Like…mine? Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot to tell you. The demon comes out to_ eat_ men and women when they stay to long in his territory."

"You're in his territory. And you haven't answered my question yet!"

"I'll answer it then. They're _exactly_ like mine, and I'm not in _his_ territory, I'm in my_ own._"

"You just said this was demon's territory!"

"I _am_ the demon."

"Yeah right! Leave us to our fun _little boy_." All three began to advance on Naruto with knives drawn. The third man must have stashed his away somewhere Naruto couldn't see because he had one now. The girl behind Naruto quivered and shrunk back further into the wall.

"Get out of here!" Naruto shouted at the girl.

"What?" Came her confused reply.

"You heard me, get out of her _now!_"

As if his words had been some switch to her courage the girl rose and stood beside Naruto.

"What are you doing?" Annoyed Naruto turned halfway to face the stupid girl, about to push her away when he received a punch to the face. Blood trickled down from his mouth. Suddenly, the girl moved fluidly in front of him, taking the guy's arm in her hands, and throwing him over her shoulder. He smashed painfully into the wall, letting out a grunt. Wiping away the stream of red liquid Naruto almost missed the blind looking girl's reply.

"What?"

"I said you might need some help."

Guarding a kick to the girl's leg, Naruto twisted around onto her right side. The girl guarded a punch to Naruto's head and twisted him out of the way of another kick. Now the five were locked in a deadly dance, but even with knives and an extra person the drunken men were losing badly.

"You got a name, girlie?" Naruto questioned.

"Hinata." Came her short answer.

Then, things took a turn for the worse as one of the men managed to grab onto Hinata's clothes. The sharp blade was pressed against her neck and a tiny trickle of red made its way down Hinata's porcelain throat.

"Stop or it goes deeper!" The man holding Hinata threatened.

Freezing, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, Naruto put his hands up in an expression of defeat. Hinata squirmed as the blade came even closer, twisting her head to try and get her neck away from the shiny silver. The man's "teammates" came closer to Naruto and one of them grabbed his arms and twisted them painfully behind his back, the other punched him right in the stomach, making Naruto cough up blood. It splattered with a sickly wet sound on the pavement. Another punch, and another, making him groan quietly. His head hanging low, he spat out blood from his mouth, landing it perfectly on one of the men's boots. Lifting his head, Naruto spat out red again, and gave a cocky grin. The man holding Hinata walked closer to Naruto, while his cronies held Naruto's arms behind his back, and thrust his face into Naruto's own.

"You think this is funny punk? What about if we give your girl a couple of mementos huh? Wouldn't be so funny then, would it? Maybe the first one we'll give is the image of her boyfriend near death, and maybe you won't be as _annoying!_" Spittle came from his lips onto Naruto's face, but still Naruto grinned cockily.

_"You…asshole." _Managed to find its way from Naruto's throat, the man swung his fist back and punched Naruto on the right side of his face, splitting his lip and causing him to sag forwards. Still, he kept smiling, as though they weren't even doing anything.

Pissed beyond sane thought at his _captive's_ defiance, the man brung his knife to Hinata's mouth.

"Maybe _you'll_** shut the hell up** if I cut out your girlfriend's**_ TOUNGE!_**"

Eyes wide with panic, Hinata began to struggle even more, and a single tear ran slowly down her face. Maybe it was the man's words, or Hinata's tear, but something pushed Naruto over the edge and a guttural, throaty, growl burst from his mouth. His eyes darkened into a dried-blood red and the scars on his cheeks thickened. Bringing his hands together, Naruto smashed the two men holding him into each other, their heads banging with a dull '_crack'. _Moving faster than before, if that was possible, he leapt at the large man's head, and his palm smashed into the man's forehead. The man's neck lashed back from the impact and he let go of Hinata. She fell and landed on her butt as Naruto flipped backwards and landed on all fours in front of Hinata, growling as the man tried to get back up. Shaking with fear, the man edged backwards, and lost control of his bowels in his terror. Baring his sharp, pointy teeth Naruto made a noise that sounded like a mixture between a growl and a scream. About to attack again he was stopped by a quiet, scared voice.

"Don't."

Turning his head, the animalistic version of Naruto peered at the woman he was guarding.

"Don't. _Please._" She begged fearfully.

Her words snaped him out of his anger and his eyes began to flutter, till, with a groan, he collapsed onto the asphalt. The drunken men, seizing their chance, fled in fear and left Hinata alone with Naruto.

"Naruto! NARUTO! Wake up! What's wrong with you?" Rushing to his side Hinata began to gently shake him, panic for her new friend filling her gaze, trying to get him to wake up.

* * *

><p>"Umm, Boss? Are your pants...dripping?"<p>

"Shut up."

"But -,"

"_Shut. Up._"

"Yes boss."


	4. I'm Late!

**Author's Notes: Alright some rules for the contest I posted in chapter 3 (You know, finding a good song for the last chapter?)  
>Rule 1: Minor or no swearing<br>Rule 2: Some sung words please.  
>Rule 3: You can enter as many times as you want but not with the same song.<br>Rule 4: Has to be easy to dance to/image someone dancing to, and it has to be able to accommodate break-dancing moves. (Anyone ever heard the song, "Bounce" or "Don't Stop The Rock" Something like that.)  
>Rule 5: The song must be sent in before I post the last two chapters, and I'll keep a count down from the last four chapters. (As in, four chapters before I post the last chapter I'll include a "It's four chapters till the end!" in the author's notes.)<br>The prize is a one-shot written by me about whatever topic you want, but please, no smut or yaoi/yuri! It's not that I'm against it, it's just I'm afraid you won't like it because I've never:  
>A) Had any experience with smut<br>And B) Never tried writing yaoi/yuri so I don't know how it will end up.  
>(And if enough people want me to, I'll make a sequel to the one-shot, andor "Just Dance". The one-shot can also be the sequel to "Just Dance.")  
>This chapter was so damn hard to write! I want to get on to the later chapters because I have so many good ideas for them! Anyway, after four chapters, Naruto finally meets Hinata and both of them finally get to the meeting! Nothing about this chapter went as planned so it took a lot longer then I wanted it to. I'm really sorry!<br>****Also, I've decided to do a "Random Review Number" on everyone of my stories starting with this one (and excluding "Violet Eyes") The "Random Review Number" contest is simple. I will pick one number between 1 and 20 and whoever reviews on that number gets a one-shot written by me. For example, say that the number is 7. Whoever gives the seventh review (unless it's a hater or I don't have any way to contact them) will get a one-shot! If it's a hater then whoever comes after gets the one-shot. The winners of both my Random Number contest for this story and my Give Me A Song contest will be revealed at the end chapter. This is kind of to get you to review...Will it encourage you? Please say it will...It'll be between every twenty numbers so, 1-20, 20-40, 40-60 ETC. Whoever reviews on the chosen number on either one of the twenties gets a one-shot. **

**For This Chapter: Minor swearing, gay references, boobie references! **

**For My Reviewers:  
>Shanin Hyuga: *glomps* you reviewed! Lol, something needs to happen otherwise it's SO BORING! Plus, I'm good at making twists. Sorry, was the boss part really that confusing? I added it on to bring some amusment to the ending because I <em>did<em> just get Naruto to faint...It's slightly explained in chapter 5, but the boss was the man that grabbed Hinata and threatened to kill her, but Naruto attacked him and "He lost control of his bowls in his terror" is another way of saying he peed himself. That's why he was dripping, and he was embarressed and angry that he ran away from a kid. Do you get it better now?  
>Anoymius max: Maxie-Kun! You figured out how to work the reviews! :D Yep, fight Naruto fight!<br>Carrottuce: Thank you! I promise I'll continue ^-^  
>Animedabest: :D Go crazy Naru-kun! The guys might reappear but they were probably just a filler arc...You'll have to find out won't you? -_^<br>Himekassy-chan: *super glomps* You're one of most faithful reviewers! Love yah! I wrote a lot but didn't post it (sorry) becuase I wanted to get it back from my beta first...It's not back yet so I thought I might as well post it now!  
>Sassiwrites4u: HEEELLLO! :D New reader! When I read the top three reviews I was laughing becuase you sent in three, one for each chapter, instead of doing one for all three chapters, :) It made me smile! <strong>

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter four, When Gang Meetings Begin (Or, "I'm Late!")<span>**

* * *

><p>A moan echoed from his lips as Naruto fought his way up from the grip of unconsciousness. Raising his hand he placed it against his forehead, trying to quell a growing headache.<p>

"What happened?" He muttered, beginning his attempt at sitting up, only to find a gentle hand push him back down.

"Who's that?" Slightly panicked, Naruto again struggled to get up, but fell back as his head complained.

"Shh…" A voice calmed. "It's alright, the men are gone."

"Men? What men? You mean those weirdoes from last week that wanted me to join their gang? Umm…," Racking his mind, Naruto remembered their gang's name. "The Akatsuki?"

"What are you talking about?" The quiet voice questioned.

"I haven't really encountered any men that would want to hurt me recently, except for The Akatsuki's messengers, and they were pretty easy to defeat."

"I'm talking about the men from ten minutes ago, don't you remember? You saved me from them, and your eyes were–," The female's voice trailed off as she saw Naruto's now opened eyes.

"What about my eyes?"

"Your eyes, they're blue now!" She shrieked, but her voice was quiet, as though she didn't want to hurt his ears.

Naruto winced then prepared to lie like mad. "What are you talking about? My eyes have always been blue." _Dammit! What did she see?_

"They weren't when you were attacking those men trying to hurt me! They were red, and you had claws, and, and…," She trailed off again, finally realizing how unbelievable it sounded.

"And what?"

"Just…You were so –!"

Rolling his eyes, and inside sighing with relief, Naruto planted one of his hands against the gravel saying, "Help me up will you?"

"But, you're still injured, you shouldn't stand up!"

"If I don't get moving now, I won't have time to clean up before the meeting, and if I show up like this or worse, late, I'll end up looking like I got ran over!"

"Oh." Reaching down, Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand firmly in her own and helped him up to her level.

Peering into the darkness Naruto remarked, "You look a lot younger than I thought. Anyway, you should go home now miss, the streets aren't safe after dark, even when you can fight. It's pretty easy to get overpowered."

Biting her lip ready to lie, and hoping Naruto didn't notice her blush at how close their faces were, she said, "I…don't have a home."

"Really? I've never seen you around before. What did you say your name was?"

"Hinata Hyu–," accidently slipping up she tried to cover for herself, "Hinata."

Suppressing the urge to crack up Naruto replied, "Hinata Hinata? That's a bit strange don't cha think?"

"I don't want to remember my last name okay? I'd rather be normal!"

Raising his hands to chest height Naruto tried to atone for his error. "Jeez, I'm sorry! Bite my head off why don't you?"

"Sorry…" Came her quiet answer.

"Hey, it's alright." Naruto tried to comfort her. "Out of all the towns to end up in, most of the street population of Konoha knows how you feel, me included."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're a pretty sad place aren't we?" A short laugh before Naruto admitted, "It's home though."

"Oh."

"When you spend time here, you adapt I guess. Just gotta learn how to survive."

"Oh."

"Is that all you can say Hinata?"

"No."

"Whatever," Naruto huffed out before he started to walk in the direction of the street.

"Naruto, wait!"

Surprised, and confused, Naruto did stop.

"How do you know my name?"

"Uhh…" Hinata panicked. "You told me?" _Please believe that, please believe that!_

"No I didn't! I would have remembered that!"

Her palms began to sweat and she lied again. "You talk in your sleep!"

"I do?" Confusion reigned across his face.

Satisfied with her lie Hinata replied, "Yes, yes you do."

"Oh. Dammit."

"Why 'dammit'?"

"No reason…" Naruto replied, brushing it off.

"No c'mon, you can tell me! Really, I owe you my life."

"I do?" More confusion.

"Yeah, those guys that attacked me, the ones you saved me from? They were going to kill me."

"Why?"

"I don't know…Maybe they don't like dark-haired girls?"

"Because that makes _a lot_ of sense."

Rolling her eyes Hinata run up to Naruto. "Will you take me with you please?"

"Why?" Naruto was confused again.

"Because I trust you." She replied simply.

Naruto just blinked in surprise. "But there are tons of other guys, or girls, out there that would be better for you to hang out with!"

"Well, they're not you are they?"

"But…I'm hated! No-one likes me…and…They're all scared of me!" Spluttered Naruto, trying to come up with a good excuse.

"I'm not scared, and I like you…"

"You almost got killed! You're probably in shock, that's it…there's no other reason a pretty girl would want to hang out with me….!"

"_Please_ Naruto-kun? Pretty please with cherry on top?"

"I…but…you…GAH! Fine! But you have to help me get cleaned up fast; otherwise we'll both be late for the meeting." As if a herald to his words, the clock tower chimed nine times, signaling nine o'clock.

Running off Naruto shouted behind him, "If you're coming with, get a move on!"

Hinata nodded once before following her savior.

* * *

><p>They managed to get to Naruto's place without further incident and Hinata found that the outside taps still worked, so she filled up a little moveable sink-shaped thing. Dabbing the corner of Naruto's orange jacket into a small basin of cold water she gently began applying it to Naruto's face. He squirmed, in impatience and at the cold water.<p>

"Will you hold still!" Hinata queried in annoyance.

"But it's _cold!_ And we're going to be late!"

"Well, if you'd _hold still_ I could go faster!" Giving Naruto a glare, she wiped away the remaining traces of dried blood then proudly proclaimed, "Done!"

"FINALLY!" Naruto cheered then caught sight of Hinata's death glare, "Uhh…I mean…it was so fast?"

"That better be what you said!"

"Yes, your dictatorship."

Indignation flashed across Hinata's face. "I am _NOT_ a _dictator! _I will NEVER BE a _dictator_!"

Slightly scared, Naruto edged away. "Jeez! I'm _sorry!_"

Sighing angrily Hinata said, "Whatever. Let's just get going okay? The sooner this 'meeting' is over, the sooner I can get your cuts and bruises treated."

"Aww man, you don't have to do that! They're _fine_."

"Say that again when your split lip gets infected."

"Infected?" Naruto quivered.

"Yes, it'll get infected if you don't treat it."

"You mean it'll turn green and ooze yellow-y stuff? I don't want that to happen again!"

"No, it won't turn _green_ you silly. And what do you mean by '_again'?_"

"Nuuthing…" Naruto got out, sounding a bit like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"_Naruto!_" Hinata warned.

"You're so annoying!" He replied, edging out the door.

"You haven't answered my question!"

"You didn't have a question!" He shouted back, heading down the street.

"UGH! NARUTO, WAIT FOR ME!" She called out, but paused on the top of the steps, thinking, _Naruto? Where did all the blood come from if it wasn't yours? And I know you split your lip but I can't see it anymore!_

* * *

><p>The light of several large bonfires cast a warm glow on Naruto's face as he walked into the meeting area. In front of him were many different people interacting, he caught a glimpse of two people dancing before the crowd surrounding them moved and he couldn't see anymore. To his left there were some people standing on wooden boxes, speaking, apparently from memory, poems. One of his favorite writers was speaking and Naruto heard a bit before the background noise swallowed it up.<br>**  
>"I went looking<br>And I saw where you went.  
>You left me,<br>And I've got to say,  
>Love you lots,<br>Miss you more."**

Looking down at a gentle touch on his arm Naruto asked, "You aright there Hinata?"

"Hn?"

"Are you alright? You seem a bit nervous…"

"Well, I've never been around this many people before!"

"Really? This is actually a small gathering. The real meeting with all the gangs is later. I think, next month?"

"This is _small?_ There's over a hundred kids here!_"_

"Well, _yeah_ Hinata. At a real meeting there are over a thousand people."

Hinata gaped at Naruto and he laughed. "This is merely a formality. A meeting of the gangs in this area to decide who's going to speak for everyone this year. As well, lots of people in this area of Konoha come to the meetings to gossip, trade and form alliances for the coming year.  
>"It's like having a hundred people over for a birthday party, although you mingle with a lot of them, there are too many to amuse at once so they'll amuse themselves. There are also little contests between gangs and their members."<p>

"Alliances? Contests?"

"I'm not really the best person for explaining but I'll try. A contest is simply a contest, the best writers face off, the best dancers face off etcetera, etcetera. As for an alliance, you know what alliance means right?"  
>When Naruto saw Hinata nod her head he continued. "Well the idea is the same. Leaders of different gangs might meet up and if one gang has an area or something that another gang wants but can't have, because of numbers or something like that, they'll ask for an alliance. Following me so far?"<br>Thinking it over Hinata nodded again.  
>"Good. If the other gang accepts the alliance then those two gangs have an alliance until the next meeting or until they get sick of each other and become enemies. Most alliances go sour after three to four months, and then the gangs get into a bit of a fight, then they get bored and stop. The longest ever alliance was between The Sand Demons and The Sirens, they lasted for six months. It's an on-again off-again alliance. They work really well together but that's because Gaara, the leader of The Sand Demons, and Temari, leader of The Sirens, are brother and sister, however they won't combine gangs because both like their independence too much.<br>"Gaara is one of my friends, he's like a combination between a loner, a leader, an assassin and a emo. Before he met me, Gaara was a pretty sad guy and didn't hesitate to kill anyone that threatened him, but now he's a lot nicer and cares more about his friends. He's loyal as well and I know if I'm ever in trouble he can help me. That guy eating all the food over there is Choji, he's a loner and my friend as well but his best friend is– SHIKAMARU YOU LAZY ASS! OVER HERE!" Naruto shouted waving his hand wildly in the air. Surprised, Hinata gave a little start and almost tripped over someone's foot.

"I'm sorry!" She said, regaining her balance.

"Huh?" The pink haired girl she almost tripped over replied. "Oh, hey! You're new aren't you? INO! GET OVER HERE!"

The girl apparently named Ino rolled her eyes then sauntered over to the two girls. "What Sakura?"

"Look! New girl!" Sakura said excitedly, grabbing Hinata's shoulders and shoving her in front of herself.

"Ooooo! She's blushing! So cute!"

Indeed, Hinata was blushing and her face grew even redder when Sakura shoved her face near Hinata's own.

"What's your name cutie?"

"U-umm…I-it's Hi-Hinata, S-Sakura-chan."

Ino squealed out, "Nyaa~ SHE'S ADORBALE!"

"T-thank y-you I-Ino-chan. C-Can y-you h-help m-me f-find N-Naruto-Kun p-please?"

Ino and Sakura looked at each before grabbing Hinata by the upper arm and dragging her away.

"I-Ino-Chan, Sak-Sakura-Chan, I t-think N-Naruto-K-Kun i-is t-that w-way." Hinata pointed at where she saw Naruto last.

"If you want a man, you go for Sasuke-kun, or Kiba. NOT Naruto Uzumaki."

"But–,"

"Oh no. The cutie is NOT going back there. You_ must_ be new if you haven't learned to stay away from the demon!"

"D-demon S-Sakura-Chan?"

"Yeah! Everyone knows Naruto Uzumaki is a demon, and anyone he ever fights is never seen again! They obviously died."

**_"You just said this was demon's territory!"_**

**_"I _****am_ the demon."_**

"W-well, h-how can y-you be s-sure I-Ino-Chan?"

"Because it's true!"

"B-but d-didn't you s-say t-that t-they never g-got seen again?"

"Well, _yeah _cutie."

"T-that doesn't m-mean t-they d-died, they c-could h-have just r-run away."

Thinking about her valid point, Sakura and Ino paused but then tried to go backwards when the heard a,

"SAKURA-CHAN! Ino! HI!"

"Oh no, here comes the demon!"

"Save us Sakura!"

"Why me?"

"Because he has a crush on you!"

"That doesn't mean I have to like it!"

"Just use it to our advantage!"

The pinkette and the silver blond stopped their whispered conversation when Naruto came in front of them, his usual hyperactive self.

"Hey Sakura! Guess what?"

"What Naruto?" Sakura said, irate.

"I found this poster about a break dance competition and you need a team of three or more and I was wondering if you wanted to be on my team, the prize money is a thousand dollars!" Naruto completed breathlessly.

"A thousand dollars!" Sakura said, shocked. "Let me look!" Thinking to herself_, Sasuke-kun has to see this!_

"Be careful Sakura, make sure it doesn't-." Naruto's warning came too late as the paper got caught by the wind and chucked away. Tracing its path Naruto groaned as it landed in the hands of his enemy.

"N-Naruto-Kun? A-are you o-okay?"

"You see that guy over there? The one that just caught the poster? Well, that's Sasuke Uchiha, or as I like to call him, 'Sas-_gay U-pee-ah_.'"

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted angrily. "Don't call him that!"

"What? It's so obvious he's gay. I mean, he got glomped by Omni the other day, and she's got the biggest boobs I've ever seen!"

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted again, although this time more shocked then angry.

"Hey, it's true…"

"DOBE! Is this yours?"

"Yeah it's mine! Give it back Sasuke!"

"Why should I? If it's important I'm sure you can tell me about it…" It wasn't a request as Sasuke was holding it above the heat of the flames.

"It's a poster Sasuke! For a dance competition!" Sakura shouted sweetly.

"Sakura! Why'd you tell the baka that?" Naruto had a hurt look in his eyes and Hinata was surprised when she felt sadness to.

"Well, he'd burn it otherwise Naruto…" Sakura made up an excuse.

"Well, good thinking then!" He said, believing her words.

"HEY DOBE!"

"WHAT, BAKA?"

"If you think you'll ever win this you've got to be kidding me!"

"Of course I can win it baka!"

"Oh man, you really do believe you can win this. HA!" Sasuke burst out laughing loudly.

"What's so funny baka?"

"You think you can win this! You have the skills of a _snail._"

"You're worse than I am Sasuke!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Fine, we'll see who's better! I challenge you to a battle!"

"I accept, but you're obviously going to lose!"

By this time, Naruto and Sasuke had drawn a crowd with their shouted argument, and it 'oooood' at the challenge. Clearing a space in the middle, an old, battered radio was brought on and it was adjusted until the techno sounds of 'Don't Stop The Rock' by Freestyle came on.

Bowing extravagantly Naruto let Sasuke go first. He held still for a second then started to lean slowly forwards till he was putting most of his weight onto the tips of his toes. He'd gotten about four arms length away from the floor when he let his weight drop down and he hit the floor with his hands, looking like he was in the down position of a push-up. He then pulled his legs forward around his arms and walked on them for two beats. His feet swung up in a hand stand then a bridge, and he stood up normally, signaling Naruto's turn. Most of the girls in the crowd cheered when he finished.

Naruto started by doing some amazing robot moves, and when he finished one of them he was close by the floor so he put his hands down and did the worm. When he finished that it was close to a second rendition of the chorus so on 'move your body from left to right' he planted his hands firmly on the floor and swung his left leg, then right leg, then left leg, around his body, faster and faster, causing himself to go in a circle. After he finished Hinata and a couple other cheered for him, but the majority of the people remained silent.

Curiously Hinata turned to the person next to her, the one Naruto called Choji. "U-umm, e-excuse me?"

"What's up pretty lady?" He said around and mouthful of chips.

"W-well, I w-was w-wondering w-why no-one c-cheered f-for N-Naruto-kun w-when h-he d-did r-really w-well, b-but l-lots o-of p-people c-cheered f-for S-Sasgay- I mean Sasuke!"

Choji chuckled softly, "Naruto told you Sasuke's 'nickname'?"

Hinata nodded.

"Lots of people cheered for Sasuke because he's rich and doesn't invoke as many scary rumors around him as Naruto does."

"H-how i-is S-Sasuke r-rich Choji-kun?"

"Drop the 'kun' okay? Sasuke is rich because he's one of the last Uchiha. The other is his brother, the murderer of his entire clan."

"I know of the Uchiha murder case, but I didn't know that his brother killed everyone…"

"Sasuke wants to kill his brother, and the easiest way to do that is to train out here."

"But if Sasuke is rich shouldn't he be able to hire anyone to train him?"

"There are three reasons why he can't do that: First, not a lot of people want to train him because he's a bit of a brat. Second, some of the best teachers only teach people on the streets and can't be bought. Third, Itachi, his brother, is out here somewhere and Sasuke can't find him if he's stuck inside all the time."

"But, why would he want to live out here? If he's a boy shouldn't he be able to do whatever he wants?"

"No, you see, after Sasuke's clan was killed he didn't have anyone to take care of him and he got handed over to bankers. They don't want him on the streets in case he dies but Sasuke made a deal with them, If he dies on the streets three quarters of his money will go to them and the rest will go to charity. If he dies while at his mansion then all the money goes to charity. To get him out of the mansion more they let him live out here. And–."

"Shh!" One of their neighbors complained.

"S-so s-sorry!" Hinata apologized quietly.

Choji remained oblivious and kept talking. "Naruto has lots of enemies, he's a great fighter and a great dancer and lots of gangs want him but he won't join anyone. I'm not really sure why. Although he has loyal friends, Shikamaru, Kiba, Gaara, Temari, Rock Lee and me, to name a few, he's never even considered joining anyone, but remains kind to everyone. Gangs that want him to join them usually end up attacking Naruto but they end up running away."

"Ino-Chan s-said t-that h-he k-killed t-them."

"No way! Naruto would never kill anybody, the reason they disappear is because they're too scared to show their faces again. You shouldn't believe a lot of what Ino says, she's the queen of gossip…"

"O-Oh. C-Choji?"

"Hm?"

"I...h-heard…s-someone s-say t-that N-Naruto-kun w-was a d-demon…I-is t-that t-true?"

"Well…" Choji looked concerned and worried. "There have been rumors of _something_ happing when Naruto or someone he likes is in danger, but no-one really knows for sure…The most frequent rumor is that he is a demon and many people are scared of him because of that. Naruto is seen as a terrifying beast but he's not, once you get past his appearance and the shields he puts up so he doesn't get hurt, Naruto is a really nice guy." When Hinata heard Choji say that Naruto liked her, a little thrill ran through her spine. Hinata had never been 'liked' by a boy before, she'd never gone to a public school so she didn't know what to say. Instead of talking Hinata just nodded and both of them turned their attention back to the battle.

It was Naruto's turn again and both of them had started doing their best moves, Sasuke with his suicides* and Naruto with his flips. Naruto was walking on his hands but then spread his legs in the splits and put then around his arms. He then moved fluidly back into a handstand and flipped backwards quickly. He landed and went into his next move, one that resembled a cartwheel except he kept his hands by his sides and didn't touch the ground. About to go into his last and hardest move one of Sasuke's gang members put out their foot and tripped him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well? How was it? Good, bad, poop flavor? ANYWAY, REVIEW! Please? The poem was an original, copywriten to ThunderStarStorm of DeviantART, who also happens to be me, so don't use it without permission. The full version will be available on DA after I finish this fanfiction because in a later chapter I'm using the full version. The damn dance scene was HELL! I went through thirty music sites trying to find the right song…And really? I've never seen ANYBODY break dance live before so I'm going on internet sites and this one really crap YouTube video…This is one of the most important chapters and I had to re-write it SO MUCH! One of the really good versions got scrapped because I didn't know that Teamri and Gaara were siblings, I thought that Temari liked Gaara…Thank god for NaruWiki otherwise I would have been totally wrong…This is also one of the longest chapters in the story becuase it's 'good for the plot' I really want to say, PLOT, GO TO HELL! Except then I'd get bored and not finish, and you guys would get mad at me...all in all, the story (Author's Notes not included) was 3,000+ words...D: Next chapter, we get a bad guy! :D Isn't that great guys?<strong>

***A suicide is when someone falls into a position that looks like it hurts them but they land so it doesn't.**


	5. Broken Bones

**Chapter 5, More On The Stalker! (Or, "Broken Bones")**

* * *

><p>"Zabuza, your report raises some concerns."<p>

The room was in darkness but the male voice came from a lighter patch close by a curtained window.

"If you cannot keep an eye on a measly sixteen year old boy, I shudder to think what would happen if I gave you a harder mission!" The voice grew annoyed at the end and Zabuza flinched slightly.

"It wasn't my fault!" He protested, still sulking slightly by his easy defeat at Kakashi's hands. "The boy has a guardian, The copy cat!"

"The _what_?" This time the voice had traces of cold malice in it.

Zabuza shivered slightly before he answered, "The copy cat, Kakashi Hitake..._follows_...the boy as well."

"And you were able to defeat him?"

"Well…" Zabuza considered lying for a second then scratched that idea immediately, he still remembered what happened to the last person who lied, it was to gruesome to forget, "no."

"I told you to keep an eye on him, that's what I pay you for, yet you get defeated by the first idiot that comes along!" His employer erupted.

"It's not like he did anything, he can't. The meeting is on tonight and anyone who disobeys the truce is hunted."

"Well then explain to me how three of my employees said that they met a demon an hour ago! Although they smelled faintly like alcohol...and one smelt like...pee," Zabuza saw the disgusted look on his face and winced for the poor man that had _dared_ smell like pee in front of his employer, "all three claimed that they saw a young boy turn into a demon to protect a girl. I would love to hear your 'magical explanation' for _that._" Zabuza could sense the killing intent behind the man's gaze and an audible gulp could be heard in the dark office as he swallowed.

"It's still not like he knows anything. Sir!" He added on, trying to get back in his employer's good books. "His memory is still a blank and he knows nothing about his heritage."

"You better keep it that way Zabuza. Naruto Uzumaki must never know." Hiashi Hyuga lent his elbows on the desk in front of him, interlocking his fingers to form a flat area to rest his chin on, giving a predatory grin as he did so. "My daughter will never marry a demon."

* * *

><p>"OY! THAT'S CHEATING!" Choji shouted angrily as Naruto fell to the ground. Not having as much practice with landing properly, Naruto hit the ground hard and a cracking sound was heard. Squeezing his eyes shut against the pain, Naruto sat up, cradling his arm against his chest.<p>

Everyone was frozen for a second before the blonde Temari shouted out, "Naruto!" Racing over to where Naruto was. Hinata was quick to follow.

At that the crowd began to close in on Naruto, trying to see what happened. They were stopped by a clear, slightly cold, voice.

"All of you back away, if there is not enough room then Naruto might begin to hyperventilate. Sakura." Gaara said, waiting till she emerged from the shifting crowd. "Medical training?" When she nodded a yes he continued, "Help him. Now."

Forgetting for a minute she was helping the demon her medic skills took control. "Choji, get cold water. Temari you get warm and hot water, Kiba, you and Akamaru find something to wrap his arm in, and make sure it's clean. If you can, use your noses to find some disinfectant in case he scraped his arms or legs."

"Hai." All three said simultaneously, running off to complete their assigned missions.

"Sakura! What are you doing? You're helping a demon!" Ino protested and there were a few echoing voices in the crowd.

Sakura hesitated for a second than replied with conviction. "Demon or not he's hurt and I'm not going to stand by and do nothing. I made that mistake before. HEY! BACK. OFF!" She shouted at the crowd when they tried to get closer again. "If you have nothing better to do than gape, go gape somewhere else!"

Murmuring, most of the people left.

"I won though." Sasuke's obnoxious tones pierced the group.

"Y-you c-cheated!" Hinata cried out angrily, forgetting for the moment her shyness as she protected her friend's honor. "Y-your t-teammate t-tripped h-him!"

"Can you prove that?" He smirked when she didn't reply. "I'm off then. And Sakura? It still stands."

"Okay Sasuke-kun…" Sakura answered absently busy trying to inspect Naruto's arm.

While Sasuke walked away Hinata thought to herself angrily, _Even his back looks conceited–!_

"I'm back Sakura, there was some rainfall last night so there was still some cold water in the water tanks."

"Good job Choji, now we have to wait till–."

"Sakura, here!" Kiba interrupted what Sakura was about to say, tossing her a reasonably clean shirt. "I couldn't find any anesthetic though."

"Never mind…Choji can I have the cold water next to me please?" Choji nodded and placed the little bowl by her side. Taking the shirt Sakura then ripped it in half down the collar. Hinata marveled at the speed they all managed to get things done, even without access to proper medical equipment or running water, they were still coping perfectly fine.

"Naruto, I need to see your hand now."

"But it hurts!" He protested.

"Well, _duh_. Baka." She sighed.

Seeing her respect in him go down Naruto quickly gave her his arm. Sakura began to prod certain places and to almost everyone's surprise Naruto didn't even flinch, he just stood there. Hinata noticed a tiny flicker of panic in his eyes as Sakura poked and he found it didn't hurt.

"That's strange…"

"W-what S-Sakura-chan?"

"Just call me Sakura from now on okay Hinata? Calling me 'Chan' all the time makes me feel like I'm one of those rich assholes who don't care about their family."

Hinata gave an awkward quiet laugh.

"You guys all heard something snap right?"

They all looked at each other before everyone but Gaara nodded.

"Well if you heard something snap it usually snaps. But I can't seem to find anything wrong with him!"

"WHAT?" Choji exclaimed. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Maybe I'm just a fast healer?" Naruto suggested.

"NO-ONE heals _that_ fast Naruto. Judging from the sound of that crack you should have at_ least_ one broken bone but it's more like you're already months into healing!"

"Hehe…" He laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"I'm back Sakura-sama!" Temari said, holding a small dog bowl carefully. "And I got the water like you asked." Noticing everyone in the small circle was quiet she asked, "What? Have done something wrong?"

"No Temari."

"Well I got the water like you asked Sakura."

"I don't think we'll need it anymore Temari."

"What's up with you guys? You look like someone just completed an impossibility!" She laughed heartily at her own joke but stopped when she saw no-one else laughing with her.

"Yeah." Sakura was deadly serious.

Temari blinked. "I was _**joking.**_"

"I wasn't."

Temari was silent. Gaara sighed. "Let us just accept he's a fast healer and get on with our lives hm?" His words broke the tension and suddenly everyone began shouting. "I knew that wasn't going to work…" Gaara moaned softly.

"Um, guys?" Naruto tried to be heard above the ruckus. "Guys? GUYS!"

Everyone was shocked into silence and Naruto began to speak. "Maybe when I hit the ground the rocks clashed together and made a crack sound. It's a lot more believable than my wrist healing this fast isn't it?" _Please believe that! It's impossible remember guys! Please..._

"If you don't need my help I'm leaving then." Sakura was the first to move, leaving everyone behind.

Choji and Kiba left to go see if Shikamaru had accidently gotten trampled while he was 'resting', and soon, the only ones left behind were Hinata, Temari, Gaara and Naruto, who was still sitting on the ground, staring at his wrist with slight fascination.

"Temari, I need to speak with Naruto. Girl-I-don't-know-the-name-of, go with Temari."

"I don't want to leave you alone with Naruto!" Temari protested. "No offence to Naruto."

Naruto rolled his eyes than said, "None taken Temari."

"Fine. Girl-I-don't-know-the-name-of, take Temari away from here and get her to teach you some things. You're obviously new so I'm guessing you need some sort of teacher." When Temari looked ready to protest again he held up his hand and said, "It will only take a second and new-girl here needs someone to show her some of the _female_ ropes."

Temari sighed and rolled her eyes but finally left, taking Hinata with her.

* * *

><p>"Naruto."<p>

"Yeah Gaara?"

"Stop being an idiot." Gaara stated the facts. "I don't care if it _was_ Sasuke's fault, but I'd rather_ not_ be chased with stakes out of Konoha." Naruto tried to interrupt but Gaara held up his hand, mimicking what he did with Temari. "You have enough rumors and this will only be one more, but if they start connecting the dots, we'll both end up killed. And seeing as I just found my sister again, I'd much prefer staying alive to on the run and trying to find her again."

"Well it's thanks to me you found her!"

"And if it's thanks to you I lose her…" Gaara trailed off, letting Naruto's imagination think up torture.

Naruto sighed. "Gaara, I know. We've both spent a lot of time keeping this a secret even before we knew about the others. Maybe if you tell her it would be easier?"

"Not yet. I don't want to die when I still haven't slept."

Naruto laughed at Gaara's small joke and the tense air between them broke.

* * *

><p>"Since I'm stuck with you till my brother is finished speaking with the hyperactive baka, I might as well teach you something…"<p>

"P-please d-don't c-call h-him t-that T-Temari-Chan." Hinata felt slightly annoyed on Naruto's behalf when she heard Temari insult him.

"Drop the chan!"

"S-sorry T-Temari."

"And why shouldn't I call him that? It fits him perfectly."

"I-it's k-kinda m-mean Temari."

Huffing Temari just answered with a, "Whatever...Hey, do I even know your name? Because I'm sure Gaara doesn't know it either, and Gaara knows almost everyone's name out here."

"I-it's H-Hinata."

"Last name?"

"H-Hyu–Hinata!" Hinata corrected herself hastily.

"Never heard of a 'Hyu-Hinata' before. You new to Konoha?"

Hinata nodded, glad that Temari apperently didn't notice her slip-up.

"I'm guessing you're also new to the streets to, you have that_ inexperienced_ aura around you."

Hinata nodded again.

"Alright, do you know about anything at all?"

"I-I k-know a-about A-alliances and C-contests Temari-Chan. I-I m-mean T-Temari!"

Temari just flopped her hand to show she didn't care. "Naruto hasn't taught you much has he?"

"W-well h-he d-did g-get a b-bit d-distracted Temari."

Temari huffed again slightly. "That baka…"

"T-Temari!"

"Sorry Hina. Can I call you Hina?"

Not wanting to disappoint the only friend she had outside of her servants, who were pretty much _paid_ to like her, Hinata nodded.

"Cool! Alright, I better teach you some stuff. First off, there are four different types of street rats out here. Ones that live in groups, ones that live in pairs, ones that live by themselves and ones that live with their sensei. The first type is the easiest to explain so I'll start with them.  
>"Here in Konoha the people that live in groups are referred to as 'gangs.' Each gang has more than four people, one of which is the leader who makes decisions based on what he or she thinks is best for the group. Although the leader has the final choice in most matters, if the entire group is against it, then the leader cannot decide for all of them. The gang has a name to identify itself by which is chosen by everyone, though the leader does most of the suggestions.<br>"Next, the people that live in pairs. They are simply referred to as 'couples' and can either be a real couple of boy-girl, boy-boy or girl-girl or just be friends that find it easier to live together. To save on rent and to increase protection usually. We may be streets rats but a boy-girl couple is not allowed unless they are over the age of seventeen and dating or under the age of ten, but that usually means that they'll be related or a trustworthy rat will be taking care of them. Couples are more likely to have jobs but the rich population of Konoha doesn't want to be served by a dirty, greasy 'rat' so although they have a higher chance than the rest of us, it isn't set in stone. Even if Naruto has been elected your 'guardian' you need to find somewhere else to stay alright Hina? Otherwise you'll get shunned.  
>"People who live by themselves are called 'loners' and either don't want to be in a gang, aren't good enough to survive in a gang, aren't wanted by the gang, or just can't be bothered like Shikamaru. That moron…" Temari muttered the last bit under her breath.<br>"Last but not least, there are the 'apprentices and masters.' An apprentice shows considerable talent in a certain area and a master who has the same affinity for the same subject. Sakura, the pink haired girl you saw earlier, has had medical training under one of the greatest, Tsuande, and Sakura is one of the reasons half of us are alive." Temari looked down at the struggling Hinata and asked, "Any questions?"

"W-well, I-I w-was j-just wo-wondering w-why y-you c-call y-yourselves r-rats, a-and h-how S-Sakura w-was r-responsible f-for k-keeping y-you a-alive."

"Everyone on the street is referred to as a 'street rat' because we live on the streets and the rich pricks in their mansions always said we bred like rats. It just stuck." Temari shrugged her shoulders noncommittally and continued speaking.  
>"As I told you, Sakura trained under Tsuande, who used to be a nurse before she got kicked out of her home onto the streets. At that time she was about seventeen and naturally skilled in the medic arts so when she saw a boy break his leg training she helped him fix it up. Every since then, she's been the one to take care of us whenever we were sick and now she's almost thirty one. So far, Tsuande has had two apprentices Sakura and Shizune. Did you ever hear of the disease that swept through Konoha around four years ago?" Hinata nodded.<br>"Well that was caused by a woman who hated us called Chiyo. She planned it so that Tsuande was away gambling, or drunk, and released a fever virus that could have killed us all. Shizune was with Tsuande at the time so the only one here was Sakura and not a lot of people believed she could do anything. Sakura didn't think she could do it on her own but then people started to die and she finally remembered that she was the only one with training to deal with this situation. Within a day of testing, and almost a hundred deaths, she managed to find a cure. However, even as she was congratulated as our hero, Chiyo made another virus. Sakura managed to find a cure to this one to but a couple more people died because of her. Sakura blames herself because if she'd accepted that Tsuande wasn't coming back earlier then she could have saved more lives. A lot of the people that got sick and ended up dying were children who had life left to live. She feels guilty for not acting sooner but apparently she thought if she ignored it, it would go away."

"Oh…I-is t-that w-why y-you c-call h-her S-Sakura-sama?"

"Yep! She's better at healing a lot of people and Tsuande moved away a little while ago so she's been the one to heal all our injuries. Anything else you confused about?"

"N-not r-really T-Temari."

"Okay then, let's go back to my stubborn little brother and the hyperactive–." Temari sensed Hinata's resigned look when she was about to finish her sentence and instead changed it to, "bouncing ball."

"H-hyperactive b-bouncing b-ball?"

"You said I wasn't allowed to call him baka, so this was the next best thing!" Slinging one arm over Hinata's shoulder Temari leant in and proceeded to drunkenly walk with Hinata to where the boys were talking. Hinata looked surprised for a minute but relaxed into the friendly gesture.

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><p><strong>For My Reviewers:<br>Carrottuce: Course~!  
>Shanin Hyuga: This is what happens next :D And after that, more fun for Hina-Chan and the hyperactive bouncing ball! :D I'm sorrysorrysorrysorry for the OOcness! I'll try not to do it again D:!<br>Rose Tiger: Glad it meets your approval. :D  
>Max Sieg: Nu~ I pick one random number between 20 different numbers (so 10-20, 20-40 ETC.) and then whoever reviews on th number gets a one-shot. If the number is 16 whoever reviews the 16th time gets a one-shot. *blush* Thanks! I actually stalked my cousins (who are all much better dancers than I am) with a video camera. They got a bit creeped out but I eventually got them to dance for me XD.<br>Himekassy-chan: Sakura needs someone to kick her butt *nods wisely, then blushes* I try to make it as awesome as possible~! Course I'd mention you! Your one of the best reviewers I have! :D :D Yeah, my updates might be a little slower because I have school next week so I can't work as much D: Taboos? Can you point them out please? ^_^ Thank you! :D  
>Mahri: *Turns red* THANK YOU! Yeah, it did take a little while...It is a dance but it's like Hip Hop as well...I'm not that good at explaing sorry! :D Those last words stuck at me for ages I love them! "BTW waiting for an update^^" :D :D SO HAPPY AT THOSE WORDS!<strong>**  
>Jewnni: One word and I'm high. How does that make <em>any<em> sense? :D  
>Winnieshen18: Yes...I did continue...? That's why this is chapter five XD Thank you anyway!<strong>

**Author's Notes: Everybody, practice the evil predatory grin with Hiashi! XD YAY! Now things are moving forwards! :D FINALLY. Apparently Hiashi cares for Hinata…in his own weird, creepy way…And whenever a put a 'Sasuke's' my computer tries to convert it to 'sauce's' it's ridiculous! I have absolutely no idea what age Tsuande is so sorry if I mess it up! I've also moved the author's notes down the bottom…if you don't like it I can always move it back to the top, but you have to tell me~~ (hint, hint!) The ending wasn't that good….did you guys like it? I can't believe I already have a winner for the Random Review Number contest! Well, on to the 20-40 contest then :D  
>You guys are so nice! I can't understand how I got 20+ reviews already! It's made me think someone's just making a new account and sending me reviews to make sure I update fast...Is that true? And don't worry guys, the random review number contest is ENTIRELY random, I get my bros to name the number, I don't even get a say in it ^_^ It actually got won on the third chapter but I didn't 'officialy' start it till chapter 4, so although I will do my original number, I'll do another number as well to make it fair to everyone. But you guys do have the 20-40 contest so you can still win..And I just remember what "Kurai" meant! *blushes* I forgot it, even though it's the name of one of my fave Japenese OC's. If you guys want to know, it's Dark and it makes a lot more sense when combined with hisher (yes, my OC has no definte gender, I just use him/her how it fits the story, and this story needed a guy.) last name. His/her full name is Kurai Hikari, which means 'Dark Light' she/he was first created for a Fairy Tale fic I wanted to do (at that time Kurai was a girl) but I never got around to starting...I've noticed that I get 4-6 reviews per chapter...It's kinda wierd...**

**Me: "More On The Stalker–,"**

**Kakashi: *cough* pedophile *cough cough***

**Zabuza: Gay pervert!**

**Kakashi: YAHHHH! *attacks, authoress freezes them with her author powers***

**Me: You can fight later bakas! Right now you have to say the disclaimer! *mumbles* because I forgot to….**

**Kakashi: The authoress of this story, who made Zabuza a pedophile,**

**Me: *glares***

**Zabuza: *buts in* And Kakashi a gay stalker!**

**Me: *radiates Killing Intent***

**Kakashi: Does not own Naruto. **

**Zabuza: Any characters belong to their respective peoples.**

**Kakashi: NOW GIVE ME BACK MY ICHA ICHA BOOKS!**

**Zabuza: And my big shiny sword! **

**Me: Hehe, umm about that…*rubs neck nervously* I kinda *quiet* lost them..?**

**Kakashi/Zabuza: WHAT?**

**Me: *hides* You'll be stuck in here forever if you kill me! And Zabuza will never get a pay check! Kakashi will never meet Naruto!**

**Kakashi/Zabuza:*RAGE FACE***

**Kurai: I don't think they care…**

**Me: You're my OC! Save me! Otherwise Kakashi will end up writing this and you'll marry Gaara! Or Zabuza will write it and you won't exist at all!**

**Kurai: I don't really care…This is the only fanfic I appear in right now and I end up looking really bad!**

**Me: Well there is that…**

**Kurai: I'm going on a date with Omni now…**

**Me: I didn't write that!**

**Kurai: Well you didn't **_**not**_** write it did you?**

**Me: ? WHAT?**

**Kurai: *leaves***

**Me: HEY! COME BACK KURAI-KUN/CHAN! SAVE ME FROM THESE MANIACS! *cries…***

**Kakashi: Maybe we'll let her go if you give her reviews?**

**Zabuza: Especially ones about my big shiny sword!**

**Kakashi: She forced me to say that! Damn authoress powers….*curses* **

**Me: NO-ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR SWORD ZABUZA!**

**Zabuza: But it's big! And SHINY! *pouts like a child***

**Me: *holds bridge of nose* SAVE ME. **


	6. Memories

***Warning!******  
><strong>**Swearing, Fainting, A bit of OOCness, sorry!****  
><strong>****Warning!****

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><p><strong>Chapter 6, And So It Begins (Or, "Memories.")<strong>

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><p>Hinata deftly scaled the rose trellis outside her bedroom, reaching her brightly-lit and opened window within minutes. <em>Didn't I turn the lights off? <em>  
>She planted both her hands on the sill and was about to lift herself into her room when she heard someone say, "Miss Hyuga, It's time for–." The voice trailed off in shock and Hinata looked up to see her maid, Tenten by the closed door.<br>Caught in the act, Hinata opened her mouth to try and speak but nothing came out. Her heart raced and she panicked, knowing what would happen if her father found out about her little 'night time adventure.' Tenten, thinking she was a burglar, threw a sharp kunai at her head, it just missed her face but cut of a lock of her lavender hair. Hinata managed to get out, "T-Tenten!" When Tenten realized she'd just thrown a knife at her employer's head her expression switched to a one of comical horror and she got out, "Shit," Before she hit the ground in a dead faint.

* * *

><p>Watching the unconscious Tenten lay on her bed Hinata fiddled with her fingers, trying to find a plausible excuse for climbing into her own window at twelve in the morning. She came up with nothing good and each excuse got more and more farfetched till Hinata gave into her frustration and rubbed her head in a circular motion to stop a growing pain in her head. "What am I going to do?" She muttered to herself. "She'll tell my father everything! I never should have done this…" Hearing a soft moan from the direction of the bed, Hinata looked over from the chair she was sitting on but Tenten was still in the land of sleep. She'd never get to see Naruto again! Not if Tenten told her father what she saw…Hinata would have to tell him everything! And what about the team? She couldn't let Naruto-kun down, she just couldn't!<p>

"_So you'll be on my team? That's great! Now I have enough people!"_

"_I-It's fine Naruto..."_

_He glomped her happily and Hinata began to blush heavily at the close contact._

"_Y-you can g-get off me Naruto-!"_

_In response he just held on harder. _

"_No way! If I stop hugging you'll get embarrassed!"_

**_I'm already embarrassed!_**_ Hinata feeling as though she was about to faint, her face resembling a strawberry._

She wouldn't be able to just disappear without everyone getting worried, especially Naruto. If Hinata got kept away from Naruto he'd go looking and wouldn't stop till he found her. And if he _did_ find her he'd be really upset and Hinata would feel guilty for lying to them all. She felt guilty even now!

"_I like you Hinata, you're really truthful, I haven't heard you lie about anything!"_

"_W-well you d-don't have to say t-that Temari." _

_I want to say it! It's true!"_

What was she meant to say after that? 'Oh sorry, I've been lying to all of you and am really the super rich daughter of the super rich guy who owns at least thirty different companies!' _Right_. Because that would go over _soooo_ well.

"_Yeah, we hate 'em. They're all rich stuck ups. I know it's bad to speak ill of the dead but the worst ones are the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan all of them are such deki sokonai!"_

"_D-deki sokonai?" _

"_Bastards."_

_Hinata gaped at the calm Choji. _

"_What?"_

_Her eye twitched as she stood silent and surprised. He rolled his eyes._

"_It's true."_

**_They hate my family! They'd hate _****me_ if I was Hinata Hyuga!_**

And then there was that conversation between Sakura and Sasuke that Hinata had heard a bit of.

"_You're on my team."_

"_Of course Sasuke-kun! I'll dump the stupid demon right away!"_

_Sakura squealed quietly with fan girl enthusiasm, but was disappointed when Sasuke went, _

"_No."_

Hinata hadn't been able to hear anything after that but what she did hear left her with more questions then she had answers for. If Sakura was on Naruto's team, how could she be on Sasuke's team to? Why didn't Sasuke want Sakura on his team right away? Sakura would have to learn two routines instead of one and she'd have to remember which routine went with which group. Hinata had decided not to tell Naruto but she promised to herself that she'd keep an eye on Sakura. She couldn't do that if she was stuck in her room though.  
>Why wouldn't Tenten wake up?.! It was driving her insane! On one hand she wanted her to wake up so Hinata could explain and make sure she didn't tell anyone, but on the other hand Hinata didn't want Tenten to wake up at all. Hinata felt like pulling her hair out in annoyance.<p>

"_You have to meet me here at twelve tomorrow alright? Then I'll take you to a secret training area! We can meet there every day at ten for practice and rehearsals." _

"_Whatever Naruto, I don't care, but training has to end at three so I can go back to Tsuande for helping in the hospital."_

"_Y-you help in t-the hospital?"_

"_Not the snob's one, ours. I'm one of the doctors there and I need to report in everyday…to…take care of patients."_

Didn't Temari say that Tsuande left? How would Sakura be able to meet her? So many questions and so many problems! Another problem was Gaara. Or, more specifically, what he knew.

_"Hinata, may I talk with you for a bit?" Hinata smiled uneasily, it sounded more like an order than a request, but she nodded anyway. "Great." Okay, now his smile was really freaking her out! _

_"Hey, no killing my charge Gaara!" Naruto joked as Hinata went over to where Gaara beckoned._

_"W-w-what is it G-Gaara?" Her stutters doubled tenfold as she talked to the creepy dark red head._

_"I was just wondering, what you were doing down here, _Miss Hyuga._" His voice was filled with disgust as he uttered her name and Hinata's heart nearly froze. _

_"Wh-w-what are you t-talking about G-Gaara?" Hinata managed to get out of her choked throat._

_"If you're going to come here dressed like one of us, you might want to hide the Hyuga eyes." Gaara folded his arms and glared. Hinata tried to get the ground to swallow her up. "Now, I asked you, what are you doing here?" _

_Any words that she tried to say got stuck in her throat and every time she tried to speak all that came out was a choking sound. Gaara frowned and spoke again, "Fine. But if you hurt anyone here, even that rich bastard Sasuke, then I will kill you, Hyuga family be damned." He stalked off, radiating killing intent, and a little flower by his left foot shriveled. Hinata gulped, and, unable to take it anymore, fainted._

When she woke up, Gaara was gone and a crowd of anxious faces peered down at her. Everyone had been worried but when Hinata had woken up quickly they stopped fretting and left.  
>Naruto and Temari had buzzed around her for almost the remainder of the night, making sure she felt alright, but she'd met so many people! She could barely remember half their names; let alone what they were like! There was lazy Shikamaru, the slightly creepy and bug obsessed Shino, Kiba and his dog Akamaru… naturally pink haired medic Sakura, gossip queen Ino, she thought at one point she'd even seen Tenten there but quickly dismissed it as her imagination.<p>

Then there was all the contests, she'd seen dancers and poets, strong men and acrobats, debaters even! It was like a festival but one almost entirely filled with teenagers. So many people her own age all around, talking, playing and…Hinata's face flushed at the thought, _kissing. _She'd seen boys kissing girls, and then she'd seen boys kissing boys!

When Naruto had seen her staring at one such couple he'd asked what was wrong and she'd replied with, "What are they doing?" He'd told her that they were kissing and she'd asked why two _boys_ were kissing each other. In public. With lots of people looking at them. Naruto had just shrugged it off telling her that it was just kissing...! Her musings were interrupted by a sound coming from her large bed. Tenten had finally woken up.

* * *

><p>Naruto lay on the rotting floor of his home, staring up at the gleaming stars through a large hole in the roof. A lone cloud drifted across the moon, diminishing the light for a brief second before it drifted onwards. Multiple shafts of moonlight fell from the roof to the ground, one falling to lie across his face. Annoyed with it, but unwilling to stop looking at the night sky he didn't move. Naruto was deep in thought, pondering many things, but the foremost that came to his mind was Hinata and the Miss Hyuga. So many questions and never enough answers to satisfy him! Why both Hinata and Miss Hyuga felt so familiar to him, how Hinata came to be on the streets, what made her eyes so hypnotic, like he could drown in them…And then there was Kiba, asking if Hinata was single! He'd lied and replied that she was all ready taken as the unfamiliar feeling of jealousy surged through him.<p>

His thoughts drifted to himself, in a month's time would be the anniversary of him coming to the streets. It was difficult to believe that he'd survived for almost ten years but he'd made it. Meeting Gaara, coming to Konoha, everything had opened new experiences for him. It was hard to believe that when he was six he'd barely known anything, including what his name was. He'd woken up one day in a vast forest with nothing but faint memories and the clothes he was wearing. Blood on his cheeks has stained the grass around him when he'd awoken and the sun was setting in the sky. He'd been terrified. Eventually he wandered into a small village where he collapsed from exhaustion. The villagers had seen him and half of them had run screaming, the other half had driven him out. Close to death he didn't remember what happened after, only that he'd woken up in a slightly ratty bed to find a boy with massive dark circles around his eyes staring at him.

Later, Naruto had learned that the boy was called Gaara and that Gaara, his brother, and his sister had found Naruto unconscious. He spent a year with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara before a massive storm struck the town and ruined the year's crops. The villagers, looking for someone to blame, had turned on a little left-handed girl. They had tried to sacrifice her to 'save' their village but Naruto, appalled, had accidently turned his eyes red. That was the first indication that he wasn't normal. The villagers then turned on him because of his eyes, believing him to be a demon.

Gaara had saved him, but the superstitious idiots thought that he was Naruto's accomplice. Both the boys had fled leaving behind Kankuro and Temari. They'd traveled for seven years, and they learned to trust each other utterly, lest they be killed. Gaara had told Naruto how he'd found him when Naruto was unconscious. Apparently inside of Gaara was a demon that came out when he slept and Naruto had one to, that was how Gaara found him. The only thing that had really stuck in Naruto's brain was that they were _inside_ of them. At first Naruto hadn't believed him but Gaara hadn't been lying, he found that out soon enough. Gaara had one called Shukaku, and Naruto had one called Kyuubi. The demons gave them increased abilities and advanced healing and would protect them, but changed their physical appearance. Naruto got red eyes and Gaara had strange sand to protect him. Naruto and Gaara had never settled down, but then came to Konoha and found that Temari was there. She'd convinced them to stay and they had, but Naruto had been surrounded by rumors again. He'd tried to do something good yet nothing good had come because of it.

Another lone cloud drifted across the sky, but was followed by far more dark, ominous clouds. One good thing before the dark came back. The sky was soon clouded and thunder rumbled in the distance. The first raindrop fell on Naruto's cheek, looking like a tear trailing its way down his face, and he rolled over into a drier spot. The water began to pound upon the rotting wood that made up the ceiling creating a steady drumming sound. The floor board creaked under him as he moved. Curling up, he fell asleep, and his dreams were haunted by dark men in masks and burning red fires.

* * *

><p><strong>For My Reviewers: I love you! I got so many long reviews! OHOHOHO! Guess what! Silent-Shanin on DA drew me fanart! :D :D It's called 'Outside' and it's from chapter 2 when Hinata's climbing out of her window and 'escaping' :3 I wove it so much! SO SO SO SO SO GOOD IT IS!<br>Where are you on this list Himekassy-chan? I didn't want to post it until I got a review from you put you never came *cries* D: **

**Rose Tiger: Yep. I will.**

**Carrotuce: OMG! SUCH A LONG REVIEW :D :D :D *happy cries, stops, is embarressed* Really...? I'm not really used to the whole chan/kun/sama suffixes and Japenese language plus (although I know it's not much of an excuse) I'm Australian and just started watching anime/manga _consciously _last year. I'm trying to scrape by with my limited knowledge of Japan. Also, I think maybe my little characters want to say to the 'big snobs' that they're not like them, adding chan and things to their names...^^; Thanks! I tried to think of something original to call him because I don't see Hina-chan letting everybody call him baka, so, The hyperactive bouncing ball was born!**

**PureBlossoms14: Thank you! Yeah, I'm planing on making her stutter start to disappear, but I will try to cut down on stutters from now on. Yeah, I'm following the basic canon story line but a LOT faster.*AUDIBLE GASP!* HE DOES? OMG! *hypered*  
>For your second review: Yeah, as I said before I am going to get rid of her stutter a bit.<strong>

**Moonlightrurouni: Lol :D *has to kick them out* Sorry guys! Naruto and Hinata gota do it themselves! Yeah, my updates may be few and far between because I have school now! D: Thanks! Hmm, really? I'll look them up if I ever get really stuck. LOL! Awesome O_o face :D Yeah, I'll update as soon as I can.**

**Preetygabbysz: Thank you! :D Sorry to say, my updates will have to slow down because I have school on again. D: My English teacher wants me to write a 100 word essay! Not that much but my brain needs to be programmed from fiction to work again, and it doesn't want to be written! D:**

**ShawnieSilenced: *blushes* thank you! I promise to try to reach higher than all the potential :D None taken, I've gotten three different reviwers who want me to 'fix' her stutter and it will be fixed but I can't just have it disappear can I? Yeah, I'm sorry! I haven't watched Naruto in a while...^^; I'll try to fufil your expectations to the max! Kakashi is going to come back! He's actually pretty enterwoven with the plot line now...Whoops...DX I did _not_ know that...;) thanks!**

**AN: Sorry guys, mainly plot filler (still helpful in setting it up though!) Oh, I also figured out why the Naruto/Naruto Shipudden author keeps killing the characters off, it's so hard to keep track of you all! Even when some of them don't even appear more than once, IT IS SO CONFUSING! I don't even remember who I planned to use in the Dance scene originally and I can't think of any guys to go in Sasuke's gang...Any suggestions? Sorry it was mainly flash backs and stuff….I planned this a different way but got bored…^^; I need to stop editing this after I send it to my Beta! I send it then I find something wrong and change it, and then I have to send it back again! DX... SADNESS FAIL. I have set myself a limit, it has to be at least 2,000 words per chapter, which means it might take a little longer but in the end you guys get more…I started a new fanfiction during Chapter 7 (You'll see I posted this in the AN down the bottom during Chapter 7 as well) It's called Only A Band and I posted the first chapter the same time I posted this. It's actually going pretty well!  
>I was going to stick some more of the plot in here but I needed it for chapter 7 so I just moved it...:D And someone called me a noob! I started another story (God Nari, stick to one already! It's called Character Questions if you want to check it out...) and I got five nice reviwers and then one of them insulted me...I'm not going to pay attention to them though becuase they only have one story with two reviews, one of which is from themself. Still, it wasn't very nice for my already tiny writing ego...that's why I'm posting this! So you guys can make me feel happy again with all your reviews. Hopefully. <strong>

**Me: *Still hiding from last chapter* You guys review so much! Makes me happyz!**

**Zabuza: They don't review that much...*trying to find his sword***

**Kakashi: *trying to find where I'm hiding, casually* It could be that you're just a bad writer...**

**Me: *starts sniffling* you think so..?**

**Zabuza: You're doing fine for a crazy person.**

**Me: HEY! If you're going to compliment me, don't do it after the other Naruto voice in my brain insults me!**

**Kakashi: Naruto voice? I'm KAKASHI. Not Naruto. Why would you refer to me as a "Naruto voice?"**

**Me: Hehe..._FUDGE! I didn't tell them they belong to an alternate universe in which they're all ninjas, so I need to stop calling them 'Naruto Voices!' ...Even if they are._ Look, *points* a ninkin!**

**Kakashi: A what? Really? *looks* HEY! You tricked me!**

**Me: O.O *Sees Zabuza's sword hanging above Kakashi's head the point glints all sharp like* S-S-s-sword!**

**Kakashi: You can't trick me again! *Crosses arms* I'm not looking!**

**Zabuza: *looks up* HEY! It's my big shiny sword! :D :D :D **

**Kakashi: *looks up* HOLY FLYING CRAB CAKES! O_e!**

**Kurai: *choses then to walk in, sees the general chaos, leaves* **

**Me: KURAI! NUUU~~! STAY WITH ME BROTHER!**

**Kurai: I'm not your brother, I'm your OC! *leaves***

**Me: I was in the newspaper on January 9th 2012 Monday! I was so excited! There was an amazing piccie of me, they chose me to do an interview because I am a senior at this drama camp I'm going to and they needed a senior to interview! :D That's why I'm in the paper! :D I also seem to have this funny habit of making my question marks disappear...I put it in and it only comes up with a ! mark...That's why it looks like this: ?.! (or like this !.?)**

**Kakashi: That's great, NOW GET RID OF THAT SWORD! *Kakashi is surrounded by trip wires that will make Zabuza's sword fall on him.* BEFORE ZABUZA TRIPS THE WIRES!**

**Zabuza: *climbing on furniture to get closer to his sword.* Here swordy ~y~!**

**Me: OH MY GOD! MY CHARACTERS! *panics***

**Omni: *Is a vague shadow with big boobs* Yo, boss? Have you seen Kurai? Because I need him to take me out tonight…**

**Me: *stops panicking long enough to answer* Oh he went that-a-way!**

**Omni: Thanks boss! Hey, while you're slightly sane, can you give me a body?**

**Me: *running around in circles screaming* MY CHRACTERS!**

**Omni: -_-" Never mind. REVIEW! :D**


	7. Problematic Problems

**A Little Chapter For All The Problems. (Or, 'Problematic Problems')**

"Kurai, what is your assumption about the boy claiming to be Naruto Uzumaki?" The Uzumaki council of elders stared down from their seats at the intimidated blonde.

"Well, I disguised myself for the mission sir, and…" Kurai Uzumaki paused for a fraction of a second, thinking about the boy he'd been watching. In so many ways he reminded Kurai of his younger cousin yet if Kurai said that it was his relative Kurai would be forgotten again, left behind to get only a fraction of the attention his cousin received! Even if it really was him, Kurai would never accept anyone claiming to be his cousin. "And it isn't Naruto. The boy isn't my younger cousin Naruto."

The head of the council of elders, a short man with gray hair and a beard, sighed. "Thank you Kurai, you are dismissed."

Kurai gave a short bow before turning on his heel and walking out the wooden double doors.

After he left the head elder spook up, slightly annoyed. "Zabuza, get down from the ceiling immediately. We would appreciate it if you wouldn't defy gravity in our presence."

"Aww, but it's so much fun." Zabuza whined, crouching on the roof.

"It is annoying. Get down here." One of the other elders ordered him.

"Fine…" Zabuza pouted, flipping down to land on all fours.

One of the seven men sitting at the high table spoke, "Zabuza, we wish for you to _convince_ the boy using the Uzumaki name to stop."

"Of course sirs." He gave an over exaggerated bow and smiled evilly, a glint in his eye.

* * *

><p>Three men sat cross legged on the ground. A stick was held in one of men's large hands and he was drawing in the sandy dirt. An uncomplicated diagram was in front of him.<p>

"So we'll attack like this. Bob you'll be on the left, Cameron will be on the right and I'll distract it." The unnamed man pointed at various places on the 'plan' causing it to become a mass of squiggly lines.

"Uh, boss? I don't really understand the plan…"

The boss turned his head slowly to look at Cameron and his eyes flashed in anger. "What was that?"

Cameron flinched. "Nothing," he squeaked.

"Good. We attack as soon as we can get reinforcements from The Akatsuki."

* * *

><p>"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice was high and shrill. Sasuke twitched.<p>

"Hello Sakura."

"You wanted to see me Sasuke-kun~?" Sasuke twitched again.

"Yes. We're going to beat Naruto in the competition. You will stay on Naruto's team until a week before the contest, and you will tell me his routine. When you leave he won't want to continue."

"That's a great plan Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn." The famous Uchiha smirk graced his face and Sakura squealed like a fan girl. "I will beat him."

* * *

><p>Kakashi had finally found Naruto. <em>Thank GOD!I thought I'd lost him! <em>He ran a hand through his gravity defying white hair smoothing it back for a second before it stuck back up. Naruto was asleep right now so he could relax a bit, but that boy really needed a tracking device or something! _So annoying trying to find him…And tonight, well yesterday night anyway it's almost morning, yesterday was the meeting. So many people around my charge is dangerous!  
><em>  
>It started to rain again as Kakashi sat on the rooftop. Faint traces of moonlight fell on his back and made him look like a shadow or a gargoyle, protecting. His clothes soon began to cling to his body but still he crouched watching Naruto sleep. He stayed silent until Naruto twitched slightly and let out a quiet cry, in the grip of a nightmare. Naruto's shirt rolled up a bit and exposed a bit of the skin on his back. Kakashi could see multiple scars on Naruto's skin and his heart flinched away. His eyes filled with sorrow and grief, grief for the boy that had gone through so much just to stay alive. "I'm sorry Minato...I'm sorry I couldn't protect him…I'm sorry I couldn't protect your son. Kushina...I'm sorry for you to...Never seeing your boy growing up into an Uzumaki you could be proud of...I promised to protect him and I failed you...I'm sorry."<p>

* * *

><p>"Miss…Hyuga?" Tenten winced as the bright lights hit her eyes.<p>

"Tenten, please don't tell my father. Please!"

"What are you talking about Miss Hyuga?"

The electronic clock on her nightstand ticked its way into three am. Frantically Hinata began to babble, trying to explain to Tenten all that had happened that night. Her stutter seemed to drop away after a few sentences. "We-I, the thing is-! I met this guy yesterday and he was really nice but then the guards chased him away and I had to come back here and father said I had to get married and then I ran away and saw the boy again, but that was after I got attacked by these men, I then I had to fix him up and he had these weird glowing eyes that turned out_ not_ to be glowing eyes just normal eyes but they looked like they were glowing and then we went to this meeting and I saw all these _people!" _Hinata paused and drew a quick breath before talking again. "Then Naruto tripped and broke his arm but it didn't really break it was rocks that went crack and then there was-."

"Whoa! Slow _down_ Hinata! I haven't seen you talk this much in _forever_. Now tell me, is the boy cute?"

A furious blush graced Hinata's face and her stutter returned. "W-will I d-didn't really…" She trailed off uncertainly. Tentensmiled, more of a smirk really, but there was a certain happy laughter in her eyes.

"It's alright Hinata. It's great that you've found someone that likes you!"

"W-well, there's a problem…" Hinata's two index fingers pushed against each other nervously. "He…doesn't really…know I'm a Hyuga." Her voice dropped lower. "A-and father s-said I h-had to marry s-someone in two months…"

"WHAT?.!" Tenten shrieked and Hinata made calming motions with her hands, trying to get her to quiet down. "What do you _mean _your dad wants you to marry someone in two months when you've found the perfect guy!.?"

"W-well he told me about the marriage this morning…an-and I only met Naruto this afternoon when he saved my life…"

"So hottie has a name now? Naruto…" Tenten tried it out a nodded, pleased with how it sounded. Then, "Wait, he saved your life?.!"

"Yeah…"

"Okay, you _have_ to let me meet him now."

"W-well…!"

"_What?_"

"He's kind of…" Hinata's voice dropped. "A street rat?"

"A _street rat!.?_"

"Tenten shush! You'll wake everyone up!"

Stunned into silence Tenten gaped at the usually calm Hyuga raising her voice. Realizing quickly Hinata started to stutter an apology but Tenten interrupted.

"Hinata…" Tentenwas quiet and sounded slightly dangerous. Then, she said happily, "I think it's adorable how much you're crushing on him!"

Hinata stared. Then stared some more. Finally, she managed to get out an intelligent sounding, "What?

* * *

><p>A quiet silky voice interrupted the silence of the night. "Now who's the pedo?"<p>

"_Zabuza?.!_" Kakashi cried in surprise, spinning around.

"You called?"

"I am not a pedo." Kakashi hissed, crouching carefully.

"Which is why you're stalking Naruto."

"Shut up!" Kakashi hissed again. Suddenly, senbon flew through the air. Kakashi jumped up and they imbedded themselves in the building's roof where he had been only seconds before. "What the…?.!"

Another figure came from the shadow to stand beside Zabuza. "Meet Haku." Zabuza sneered with a little sweep of his arm.

The masked figure stared at Kakashi. Kakashi stared back then noticed the long hair. He smiled, and then bowed, not taking his eyes of the opposing ninja. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"Haku is a guy."

"…" Kakashi stared incredulously. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Can he talk?"

"Yes."

"Let me rephrase that. _Will_ he talk?"

"No. Probably not."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Haku. Go away." Kakashi stood up but suddenly, there was a loud, annoyed and very awake sounding, 'geeze, the roofs' dripping on me _again?_' from Naruto.

Zabuza smiled creepily, and then ordered Haku. "Get him."

"No!" Kakashi cried, trying to jump forwards to stop Haku, but Zabuza pulled out his sword and slashed at him. To prevent himself from being cut in half Kakashi had to jump backwards, letting Haku past. "NO!" Kakashi leapt for the edge of Haku's garments to stop him but the fabric slipped through his fingers and he had to dodge again as Zabuza attacked.

"Will you just go away!.?" Kakashi asked Zabuza angrily, jumping around the rooftop away from the other man's sword.

"Hmm," Zabuza pretended to think. "Nah! I don't think I will."

"What the hell?.!" Kakashi heard Naruto shout and Kakashi tried to get to him but Zabuza blocked him again.

"Stop trying to run away."

"Stop _blocking_ me from running away!"

The two traded blows, slipping and sliding on the wet roof top, before Zabuza landed a strong hit and Kakashi was sent flying. The water helped speed him along the ground until his head and most of his torso was dangling over the edge. He struggled to get up but Zabuza was there, holding his sword to his throat and preventing him from moving anywhere.

"Any last words copycat?"

"Just a couple. How cliché can you get?" Zabuza growled and bought his sword closer to Kakashi's neck. Then, a feral cry could be heard. "Oh no…" Kakashi whispered. In the second Zabuza was distracted Kakashi had whipped his leg around and bought Zabuza to the ground. Zabuza groaned, and got up as fast as possible, but Kakashi was already gone.

* * *

><p>Naruto was rudely awakened by the heavy rain leaking in through the roof of his house. "Geeze, the roofs' dripping on me <em>again?<em>" He cried, sitting up quickly. Shuffling to the side he huddled under the only dry spot in the abandoned house. "Oh the joys." Naruto muttered sarcastically. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a girl appeared. Naruto blinked, surprised. "Hi." He called, waving at the girl. "Did you come in here to get out of the rain? 'Cause if you did this place lets in as much water as what's coming down outside."  
>The girl remained unresponsive and just kept staring at the blonde. Starting to get a bit freaked out Naruto took in more of the girl. She had dark hair with two bangs framing her face and a bun to hold up the rest of it with a silver head band that had four lines in an engraved diamond shape. Dressed in a dark blue, flowing long-sleeved shirt and short brown cotton pants, she was really quite pretty.<p>

"Hello?" Naruto called again, about to stand and go closer to the girl when sharp needle-like things impaled themselves in the ground by his feet. "What the hell?.!" He cried in shock jumping backwards. Rain water gleamed off the dull black iron.

"What are you doing?" Naruto hissed at the girl but she stayed silent and got out more of the needles. "What are those things?"

This time the girl spoke. "Senbon." She said simply. "And I'm getting you."

"_What!.?"_Naruto stared at her, incredulous."Who _are _you!.?And why do you want to 'get' me!.?"

"I am Haku."

"Hey look, an answer," Naruto muttered sarcastically.

"I was ordered to get you and therefore I will."

"…" Naruto stared. "Right. And I can't persuade you otherwise?"

In answer, Haku attacked, sending senbon straight towards of them grazed his shoulder and drew blood, bright red against the orange of his jacket. He inhaled quickly, wincing because of the pain,and ran. Heart pounding in his chest he sprinted through the rain, almost falling multiple times.

He tripped and fell, crashing through the undergrowth. Scrambling to get up the lithe kyubbi-container slid on the mud and crashed to the ground again. Senbon hit the fabric of his clothes and pinned him to the floor. Squirming, he tried to escape from the metal's hold on him but before he could do so a foot crashed down on his chest. Naruto heard a snapping sound, and pain flared in his ribs.

"Sorry. I have to kill you now."

* * *

><p><strong>For My Reviewers:<strong>

**Rose Tiger: Yep, they probably will!**

**Dario Senju: Oh ^^ Thanks for pointing that out! I'll fix it.**

**Himekassy-chan: Thanks! ): Poor himekassy! Her computer not working…(second review: Thank you so much! Hehe, yep! I know right? Mayyybee~ But I promise if I do it'll be funny!**

**Mahri: Oh yes, that was VERY fun to write :) Yes, sadly not much action but I hope these next chapters fulfill your action needs! :D Yep, mystery FTW! I do so enjoy writing plots that have a lot of suspense~ Gaara is an amazing character! I love him~ Hehe, thanks! I just got on holidays so I'll have some time to write! :L**

**Blatant Bookworm:  
>First review; thanks! No probs, I love it when people review no matter what the time. ^^ Thank you! I will.<br>Second review; Course I will (I can't just leave it at that right? ^^)**

**Hinanaru for eva: Yeah, I did, and my apologies for not updating sooner.**

**Kitty-Wolf-Chan: Psh, but your rants are hilarious! Thanks for reviewing~ Kewl~ Can't wait to see it!**

**Chewie Cookies: HI! Nice to see a (reasonably) new face ^^ Welcome, and yes, Shanin Hyuga is Silent-Shanin on DA (took me a while to figure it out XD) Second Review: :) Sorry, I just really seem to like to torture the poor guy! I will, promise!**

**AN: Well, now you guys know Zabuza's a double agent! But where does his real loyalty lie? And Kakashi? What's up with him? I mean, really, I love staying in the rain and all but he's soaked now and it's night time!**  
><strong><br>****Don't cha just love me for updating? D: I'm sorry! School is taking over…D: I got writers block to, and started a new fanfic called 'Only A Band'. I'm such a horrible person…D: D: *cries* I got like two reviews all wanting the drunken men to make reappearances so here they are! Don't you love their names? XD God, this chapter hated me! That and school is sapping away my happy and replacing it with angst so I want to write the later chapters…D: Great~ *SARCASM.* STUPID ANGST  
>My friend 'convinced me' to watch this anime with her (held her fan fiction chapters captive till I watched it) and at the beginning (because she's a pervert and a nutjob) I was really apprehensive about seeing it. I was like 'oh, this isn't that bad' then it hit six minutes and my expression went from this: ^^ to something like this: O_O<br>The joys of having Kara-chan as one of your best friends ):  
>On a happier note, it was my birthday on the 19<strong>**th**** of March so I'm uploading two chapters for your enjoyment! Yes, I'm very late, and yes I should have uploaded earlier but I had no internet connection for the Easter holidays! ): Sad face.**


	8. Don't Take Over Me

**And You Expect Me To Believe You? (Don't Take Over Me)**

"_Sorry. I have to kill you now." _

_Never could anyone be more aware of their heart beat struggling vainly to keep them alive when they were inches from death itself. How do you breathe?How does your heart keep beating? Naruto stared at the metal sticking up from his chest, right next to where his heart was, pumping out blood from the wound. Oddly enough Naruto couldn't feel any pain or panic, like he was numbed from inside out. He pulled the bloody metal out and tossed it to the side. A feral growl started in the back of his throat then burst from his lips as a full out roar. _

Naruto's eyes flashed from their normal blue to kyuubi's red. In a blur of motion Naruto was next to Haku and his leg was swinging up to hit him in the stomach. Haku flew backwards from the blow but Naruto was already behind him and hit him forwards with a punch to the back. Haku hit the ground hard and Naruto stood above him, mouth drawn back in a snarl, his canines sharp and terrifying in the now-showing moonlight. The rain had changed from a downpour to a light drizzle then stopped all together. Haku gave a tiny gulp as he stared at the demon. Suddenly, Kakashi appeared from the darkness. "Naruto!" The teen stopped what he was doing and looked at the ninja.

"Don't do it!" The demon Naruto looked at Kakashi with little interest and turned back to his prey. Zabuza jumped in front of Kakashi and prevented him from running towards Naruto. Unable to stop the teen from murdering. From killing.

"NARUTO!" Kakashi cried out trying to reach him, then had to jump backwards as Zabuza's sword was swung at his abdomen. He didn't move fast enough and the sharp metal cut through the shirt's fabric easily, drawing blood. Kakashi hissed at the pain and grabbed at the wound instinctually. The two opposing men stared down each other. Zabuza bought the sword up to his mouth and licked it.

"Ew." Kakashi said, with a disgusted expression on his face. "That's my blood you gay bastard!"

"**Hidden Mist Technique!" **

"What?" The rain water on the ground began to evaporate quickly, forming a thick mist. "What's going on?" Kakashi said, looking around in confusing at the sudden mist.

"The hidden mist technique is a speciality of mine. The user evaporates water and creates mist to hide their movements. Your Sharingan cannot pierce the mist, and my eyes are closed so you cannot 'read my mind'." Zabuza's voice boomed from all around the white-haired ninja and he whirled trying to pin-point exactly where it was coming from.

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector over his head, revealing the red and black of his Sharingan. His eyes narrowed as he tried to penetrate the fog but, like Zabuza had said, the Sharingan couldn't see through the mist. Out of nowhere Zabuza struck, drawing more blood. Kakashi caught a two-second glimpse of white cloth over Zabuza's eyes before he was gone, back to hiding in the evaporated water.

Kakashi quickly formed hand-signs and grabbed a summoning scroll. Sticking his left thumb into his own drying blood he drew a line straight down the middle of the scroll. The blood and scroll vanished with a poof of smoke. "Ninkin." Kakashi whispered, calling the bodiless dogs to do his bidding. The white dissipated into thin air and Kakashi was left with a view of Zabuza being held still by the powerful jaws of the ninkin. Kakashi raced around him quickly intent on protecting Naruto and saw...Sasuke?

* * *

><p>Gaara twitched. He was sitting cross-legged on his 'bed,' which was composed of a ratty blanket and his jacket scrunched up to make a no-where-near decent pillow. It wasn't like he was going to use them anyway; he'd never slept. The red-head stood carefully, making sure not to wake Temari, who was fast asleep next to him. Quietly, he snuck out of where The Sirens and The Sand Demons had been resting for the night. His feet sloshed through the mud and left-over rain water and he moved quickly, and a little like he was in a trance, with his eyes half-closed.<p>

A voice other than Gaara's own came from his mouth, a quiet hiss.

"_Turn left._" The voice said, sounding like a combination of gritty sand and dirt. Gaara obeyed; picking up speed the further away he got from his gang's home base. Soon he was a blur of colour, his loose-fitting black pants, doc martin boots and tight fitting black-green shirt mixing together because of how fast he was going. The only semi-bright colour in the streak was a golden-brown gourd-shaped container, usually hidden under the folds of a short trench coat style jacket that zipped up all the way to the bottom of his chin and ended a bit above the middle of his thighs. The jacket had been left behind when Gaara had crept out and now he was too far away to get to it. Passing by a decrepit alleyway stained with blood he slowed slightly, but the voice prevented him from stopping entirely.

"_No. Not there." _Gaara gave an inconspicuous nod, his speed picking up again.

"_Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. Left. Left." _

"Stop making me go around and around."

The voice chuckled heartily at Gaara's words, then gave him proper directions.

"What did you even sense?" Gaara asked, the words left to hang meters behind him before he even finished.

"_Your 'brother' and my 'sister'." _

Gaara looked inside himself to stare at Shukaku, questioning. "Hn?"

The one-tail sand demon answered, keeping partial control of Gaara's body to maintain their speed. _"Naruto and Kyuubi. My 'sister' has taken control of Naruto's body. His seal is slipping every second she stays in control."_

"What!.?" An emotion finally entered the apathetic teen's voice. Panic ruled before he had the chance to control it. In the brief lapse of his control Shukaku managed to tie himself even more strongly to Gaara's motor functions. Gaara's conscious was pushed to the side as Shukaku took over.

"_We're going to help her get loose!" _Shukaku cheered happily, pouring even more of his own chakra into their speed. Now they barely touched the ground, only pushing off ever so often. Naruto's house came into view but with Shukaku in control the shared body could see further and they noticed the battle going on a few meters away. One last push off the ground sent them even higher and they landed in the middle of the battle, deflecting a shot from Haku.

"Let me out of here!" Gaara cried from inside his own head, staring out through his own eyes yet not able to control what he was doing. There was a black rush and he was pushed away from the meagre light his eyes sent into the darkness. They were pinpoints now although he had stopped moving they seemed to get further away. Shukaku appeared in front of the red-head his tail waving cheerfully. Gaara glared at the demon.

"Just because I am your Jinchuriki does not mean that you can take control of me whenever you like." Gaara said coldly, glaring at Shukaku.

"Ah, but this, this I _want _desperately to happen. Then, I can get out of here and do some _real _damage to this pitiful world!" Shukaku cackled madly, his tail waving even faster. Gaara could feel his real muscles moving, uncapping the small gourd by his side. He tried to force them back under his control but Shukaku forced the chakra-infused sand from the bottle, making it spin around them. It formed a barrier and thin tendrils that began thrashing around the controlled body of Gaara. The tendrils looked thin and octopus-like, long whips made of sand.

The brown-haired Haku appeared in front of them and threw senbon needles that were easily deflected by the sand. The sand struck the boy-who-looked-like-a-girl with force and sprouted thick spikes, making it look like a medieval club. Haku was thrown towards an ice wall that Gaara was sure hadn't been there before and she disappeared into it.

"Well damn. That's a problem. " Shukaku said, crinkling his nose.

"_What?_" Gaara asked, while the demon forced his body to whirl around. Forming around them were icy mirrors that all had the image of Haku in them. "Huh?" He asked rather intelligently. Only Shukaku heard, having confined Gaara's voice to his head.

"It's a kekkei genkkai that lets the user travel through almost indestructible ice mirrors and deliver attacks so fast that the person the user is attacking has no clue as to where they come from and cannot pinpoint the exact location of the attacks, thereby rendering their own attacks useless."

"I think I actually understood that-!" Gaara said truthfully, but smiling sarcastically and obviously faking happiness.

"That's good." Shukaku showed no indication that he even realised Gaara was being sarcastic and was severely _pissed _at the demon.

There was a pause before the sharp pain of a metal weapon flared in his shoulder and Gaara grasped it, expecting to see blood. His hand came away clean and he stared, slightly confused.

"Right. Currently I'm a manifestation of consciousness with all the feelings of my body and absolutely no control. _**Joy.**_" Gaara said the end sarcastically, and considered swearing violently. In the end he decided it would do no good and took a seat on the floor, fuming at the damned Shukaku controlling his body. He felt another hit, this time on his leg and hissed involuntarily.

"Do a better job protecting my body you moron, I need all my ligaments attached!" He shouted at Shukaku. "Use my sand to protect us or something!"

"That would give away our status as Jinchuriki."

"Like you haven't given it away already? We've used our sand once, use it again!"

"I _can't_! It is highly infused with your chakra _and _mine. In the beginning I could use it because there was no attention on us. Now we have the full attention of a very capable ninja and as soon as we take out the sand she-" Gaara interrupted.

"That's a boy." Shukaku blinked, then rephrased his ranting.

"_He_, then, will realise that you are my Jinchuriki. Not to mention the fact that sand wielding is incredibly chakra-consuming and you should be dead on your feet but what you just did. Instead you're standing and dodging most of her fast blows! Out of the nine demons, only I have the ability to control sand to the extent that it can almost become _living._

"Do you really want someone finding out about this again and having to run? Last time Naruto was dragged along and Kankuro and Temari were _not_. By revealing _what _we are you put this entire village in danger, especially your sibling and Naruto. Because of what happened _last time _Kankuro is gone. Would you want that to happen here, to those that you call friends?_"_

Gaara was lost for an answer, finding everything the demon had pointed out true, and unable to come up with a decent argument to combat what he'd said.

"Still," Shukaku pointed out, uncaring, but with a malicious smirk that went unseen by Gaara. "At least Kankuro isn't dead."

"What?" Gaara's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. "When were you deciding to share this valuable piece of information with me, you...you bastard!"

"Aw, is wittle Gaara-warra mad at the demon?" Shukaku said in a kiddie voice, overly pleased with Gaara's angry reaction.

"You said you saw my brother _die!_"

"Did I? Oops!" Shukaku laughed, smiling with joy.

"There's a big leap from my brother being alive and my brother being _dead _demon!"

Shukaku tutted. "Demon? How degrading. I prefer to think of myself as 'Shukaku' or as you so lovingly call me, 'bastard!'"

Gaara growled, wishing he could punch a wall, or even better, Shukaku. "Where is he Shukaku?" His green eyes glimmered dangerously and for once in his immortal life Shukaku gulped because of fear. Maybe he'd bitten off more than he could chew by messing with this one. No, he quickly discouraged that line of thinking, he was never afraid and he never had to back down, _especially_ not to a puny _mortal_ teen.

"I'm not telling!" Shukaku sung childishly.

Gaara growled at the demon again, then cried out in pain as Shukaku forgot to dodge the lethal weapons aimed at the both of them. "Tell me _now!_" Gaara screamed at Shukaku, trying to bend the demon's will to his wishes. Two seconds later he was flat on his back and Shukaku was atop him, claws digging into his shoulders. Gaara arched his back, trying to buck the demon off him and get rid of the terrible weight and pain from the demon's claws. Shukaku's face was twisted into a growl of pure animalistic fury and instinct. He pressed his face closer to Gaara's own and hissed into his ear.

"Do not forget who I am Gaara. Do not forget what I can do. Do not forget who is controlling who!" Spittle from his lips flew onto Gaara's face but Gaara could make no move to wipe it off, frozen underneath the fuzzy mass of fur and sharp claws. Shukaku's eyes gleamed in anger as he glared at the red-head, but Gaara did not move his gaze away, instead locking eyes with the demon. Green, human eyes met black and yellow cat-like ones. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do, maybe it was the right, but after a brief, tense pause in which Shukaku drove Gaara even further into the floor, he let go of the teen.

"Never forget _Gaara._ I can take control whenever I want."

Unable to resist having the last word, and still angry about Shukaku not telling him about his brother, Gaara spoke. "No. You can't." Shukaku roared, and the blank space they were in shook from the raw power flooding the space. Gaara stood straight and tall through it all, unwilling to give in to the creature of his nightmares. "You _can't_ take control of me whenever you want because I am still here. _We share this body._ You don't get all of it."

"So you think you can just take the best parts of what make me a demon and leave the rest behind? It doesn't work that way Gaara. It's either all of me or nothing at all!"

"I know."

* * *

><p><strong>For My Reviewers: <strong>

**Rose Tiger: Hehe, you'll just have to find out! **

**AN: WOAH! I was on a writer's CRAZE! I have almost three chapters done! :D Last chapter, this chapter and a bit of next chapter ALL IN A DAY. Dear gods, please make Gaara come to life? He is like, the best writer's block killer EVER! I loved writing this chapter! LOVED IT! And now you guys will get more Gaara-centric chapters, which I'm sorry about but I LOVE WRITING HIM SO MUCH! (I only just discovered this...^^;) But dear ZORDS, I just typed and typed and typed and I couldn't stop! That's why this chapter is **_**so**_** long...and so focused on one character...^^; hehe...AT LEAST YOU CAN READ MORE?  
>And yes, my b-day on the 19<strong>**th**** of March. It was AMAZING! I had two parties, one on the 18****th**** (Sunday) with my friends, then on my actual birthday with my family. Water-proof camera guys! (If you watch my DA expect to see some water pics XD and a LOT of cheetah ones – we went to Singapore zoo during the holidays)  
>Only bad thing was I got sick – but I got to work on fan fiction so the day was not wasted! I had no connection to post these chaps because on Thursday we went to Singapore for three days (8 hour flight) and stayed at Sentosa island. SO MUCH FUN! We got rained on ): but it was still amazing. Went to Universal Studios, which reminds me of Dream world and Movie world from AUS...I got a cap that reads 'Actress' in white (the hat is black) and a black and magentapurple Decepticon shirt. THEY'RE SO COOL! And we went to Singapore Zoo with our Nan and got lost (oops XD) I got obsessed with cheetahs~~ They're amazing! We were separated from them by a GLASS WALL and they came up so close that if the wall wasn't there we could have PETTED THEM. It was like they were actors! (SQUEE~!)  
>Then we had an hour boat trip to Bintan Island, where a Club Med is, and stayed there for a week. They have a trapeze... :3 IT WAS AMAZING! I fell off though, which wasn't so amazing XD<br>And you guys want to stop reading this now don't you? I'll stop.  
>ONE MORE THING! I started a commission shop called Hell's Angels with my friend (Mimi911) on and I've opened commissions on my DA page so if you want a commish go check me out? ONE OTHER THING! I'll be editing this everytime I get a review that should have been included in the 'for my reviewers' bit, but I'll stop when I post the next chap.<strong>

**Bye!**

**~Nari S-L.  
><strong>


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